X-Men ‘97 Executive Producer Breaks Down Marvel Animated Show’s Grand Return

X-Men ’97 Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum teases the X-Men: The Animated Series revival. Though it’s premiering nearly 30 years after the conclusion of the original, X-Men ’97 picks up after the events of “Graduation Day” and explores how the close-knit team of mutants handles the change in status quo at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the wake of their beloved leader’s death.

X-Men ’97 will release on Disney+ shortly, marking the first project produced by Marvel Studios based on the mutants after the rights to the characters reverted back to them when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. The new show follows the same characters from X-Men: The Animated Series while also introducing other fan-favorite mutants, such as Brazilian teenager Sunspot (voiced by Gui Agustini). As the mutants both old and new try to protect the world in the face of humanity’s prejudice, they must also deal with interpersonal conflicts and challenges from some of Marvel’s most feared villains.

Screen Rant recently interviewed Winderbaum, who spoke eloquently about his own love for X-Men: The Animated Series, and how he brought that passion into X-Men ’97. Winderbaum also teases some neat Marvel surprises along the way, especially for fans who followed Marvel animated properties in the 1990s.

Kevin Feige Agreed To X-Men ’97 On 2 Conditions

Screen Rant: X-Men: The Animated Series obviously came out before the wild success of the movies and the boom of the modern superhero movie genre. How do you balance continuing the feel of a decades-old cartoon with the experience and expectations of audiences who’ve been exposed to a lot of X-Men and other superhero mediums before?

Brad Winderbaum: I think we make our best work when we do what we love, and I love X-Men: The Animated Series.

When we had just released What If…?, it was a success, and it opened up the door for us to make more animation. It was the first idea out of the box, I was like, “Can we revive the original X-Men: The Animated Series?” Kevin [Feige] said, “We can, it’s a great idea, but we need two things, otherwise [it is] not worth doing.” That was the cast and the music, luckily, we got on both.

How X-Men ’97 May Crossover With Other ’90s Marvel Animated Shows

X-Men: The Animated Series was greatly viewed as a standalone series, but was a bigger part of a shared universe with Marvel animated TV shows during that era, with some stories and characters crossing over. Was ’97 developed with a wider Marvel animated universe in mind? If not, is that something we can expect in the future?

Brad Winderbaum: X-Men ’97 fits directly into the continuity of the ’90s animated shows, and as you know, there were some awesome crossovers, most notably with Spider-Man: The Animated Series. I will say that if you remember the awesome cameos from the original show, you’re going to be happy in X-Men ’97, without going into spoiler territory. [laughs] It’s an exciting timeline to explore that ’90s world!

Marvel Studios’ X-Men Plans For The MCU Didn’t Limit The Show

What got me into comics is that version of them! X-Men ’97 is releasing alongside the team’s budding introduction into the MCU. Did that change the way certain storylines were handled, or how specific characters were imagined?

Brad Winderbaum: No, honestly, being able to stay in the ’90s was liberating. We were able to do whatever we wanted, as long as it was the ’90s, which is what the whole idea of the show is. There were no limitations put on the show, except for the limitations we put on ourselves, which were mostly creative ones, because we were trying to emulate this style that was made with technology from 30 years ago, using our modern tools. We were always trying to put artificial limiters on ourselves to a code of ethics to hold to the ’90s aesthetic. That’s why it was so important that we brought back Larry Houston in particular, but also Eric and Julia Lewald [the original creators of X-Men: The Animated Series].

They were able to tell us how they made the original show, so that we could guide ourselves into it. They would not have been able to move the camera like that back then, so we shouldn’t do it. They wouldn’t have had that dynamic. We’re all fans of watching anime for the last 30 years, and it’s really easy, especially in the design front, to start going angular, and go “No, no, soft curves!” or big bubbly muscles. We had to really hold ourselves accountable over and over again to stick to that 90s aesthetic.

Winderbaum Teases His “Favorite Emotional Moments” Come From Scott Summers

Scott Summers is my favorite superhero of all time. He is my favorite novelist X-Men, and you guys did right by my boy. What can fans expect from Scott’s journey in this new season?

Brad Winderbaum: He’s an orphan, he deals with abandonment issues, and he vowed to be a good father. That’s one of the reasons — I’m going to psychoanalyze Scott for a second — why he looks up to Xavier. Unfortunately, in dramatic X-Men fashion, he finds himself with his worst nightmare coming true and forcing to deal with the ramifications. Now, with that said, that pendulum swing is very deep and when it pays off, it pays off in a major emotional way towards the end of the season, leading to one of my favorite moments in the show, actually. I won’t spoil it for you, but you got a lot to look forward to.

The X-Men ’97 Ensemble Will Elevate Some Original Characters

X-Men ’97 episode 2 legit brought me to tears. Two of my favorite episodes that always stand out are “Cold Comfort” with Bobby Drake and X-Factor, and “Nightcrawler.” What can we expect from the latter? Because Nightcrawler is going to be in the season at some point.

Brad Winderbaum: There’s certain characters that really stand out in your memory of the original show, Bishop probably being the biggest one. You kind of imagine him being part of the ensemble, even though he was a guest star. That’s why we were like, “Bishop’s part of the ensemble now,” just because that’s what we remember. We also remember Morph being part of the ensemble, so they’re more front and center.

I would actually put Kurt on that list as well. [He’s an] impactful character in the comics, certainly. That ’90s era is Kurt, Kitty Pryde, and all the Excalibur stuff. We love Kurt, we’re excited to have Nightcrawler come back, he plays a major part in the show, and he takes center stage in the ensemble at times.

About X-Men ’97

X-Men ’97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.

Check back soon for our X-Men ’97 interview with Jake Castorena.

X-Men ’97 season 1 premieres on Wednesday, March 20, with the first two episodes, exclusively on Disney+.