X-Men fever has once again gripped Marvel fans. With the impending debut of Marvel’s merry mutants in the MCU and the juggernaut, (see what I did there?) that has been X-Men ’97, the X-Men seem to be everywhere in 2024. X-Men ’97 has been able to stand on its own two feet since premiering back in March. A faithful continuation of the original X-Men: The Animated Series which ran from 1992 to 1997, ’97 has brought all eyes back to Marvel animation. Marvel animation has been a bit of a rocky road since Disney acquired the Marvel brand. What If…? has been Marvel’s flagship animated programing but the reception of both seasons has been mixed. The animation style has either been loved or hated with fans and the overall focus on the Captain Carter variant of Peggy Carter has divided fans further. Marvel’s What If…? takes what would look like traditional 2D animation and puts it in a 3D landscape. This hybrid looks good in motion but at times looks flat. X-Men ’97 seems to take from What If…?‘s style of animation but by keeping the base models of the characters grounded in their original models from the 90’s, this style seems to fit right into what What If…? was trying to accomplish visually. X-Men ’97 has been able to pull of some impressive visuals and the overall continuation of the original series seems to be a hit with fans of all ages, everywhere.
But what if I told you the X-Men’s journey in animation didn’t debut on Halloween 1992?
In 1989 a X-Men pilot was ordered from Marvel Animation. Marvel Animation had produced a couple of different series in the past that, although didn’t last beyond one season, were fairly popular. This included The Fantastic Four (1978), Spider-Woman (1979-1980), Spider-Man (1981-1982), Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (1981-1983) and The Incredible Hulk (1982-1983). Most notable among these shows was Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends that ran for three seasons and featured Spider-Man teaming up with Iceman and original character Firestar. Marvel Animation realized that a team orientated show would produce more eyes on their product as many other Marvel characters frequently made appearances including the X-Men on several occasions. With Fantastic Four already scratched Marvel turned to another well known team The Uncanny X-Men!
The pilot, titled X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was funded with money meant for RoboCop: The Animated Series‘ 13th episode. Instead RoboCop: The Animated Series (1988) ended with 12 episodes. Work began on the pilot’s plot which was mainly influenced by Uncanny X-Men #129-139 from Marvel Comics which dealt with Kitty Pryde’s introduction to the X-Men. The animation for the pilot was pivotal for the time as we start see the beginning of what the standard of animation for superhero TV Shows of the 1990s would become. Pryde of the X-Men featured Charles Xavier’s X-Men consisting of new recruit Kitty Pryde, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Dazzler, Storm and Wolverine battling the “Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists” lead by Magneto, consisting of Toad, the Blob, Juggernaut, Pyro and the White Queen.
The plot deals with Kitty Pryde’s introduction to the X-Men. This coincides with Magneto’s escape from prison. Kitty in her unfamiliar surroundings and accidentally causes the X-Men’s Danger Room to go haywire. Wolverine, who has a thick Australian accent in this pilot for some reason, berates the young Kitty in protest of her recruitment. Magneto sets his sites on bringing a second Ice Age upon the Earth as mutants would have an edge to come out on top as the survivors due to their powers given to them by their mutations. As a result humanity as we know it would perish. To do this Magneto aims to set a nearby comet on a collision course with the Earth. Devising a plan to split up the X-Men, Magneto and the Brotherhood succeed in getting Cerebro’s Mutant Power Circuit, a device that can locate mutants worldwide, before retreating to Asteroid M, his base of operations. The regrouped X-Men tell Kitty to stay behind as they give chase and clash with the Brotherhood on Asteroid M. As the members of the Brotherhood fall Nightcrawler stands alone against Magneto. Kitty, who snuck along for the journey, saves Nightcrawler’s life by tripping up Magneto. This also causes him to accidentally damage the device controlling the comet’s course. Nightcrawler becomes a living circuit by using his body to complete the device’s circuit and reroute the comet towards Asteroid M. Magneto and the Brotherhood retreat to Earth as Nightcrawler seemingly dies completing his mission after the comet collides with Asteroid M, destroying it. Thinking Nightcrawler vaporized the team mourns the loss of their team member only to be asked by a very much alive Nightcrawler why everyone is so sad. The team celebrates their victory back on Earth as Kitty is congratulated for her role in Magneto’s defeat but it is made very clear, especially by Wolverine, she has a lot of training to do and is not yet a full X-Man.
The pilot was suppose to launch a brand new series. While the animation was praised, the story was criticized as being too campy. This came at the cusp of the more darker, and grittier tones of comics in the 1990s gaining popularity worldwide. The themes of intolerance and perseverance, which were hallmarks of the X-Men comics by 1989 seemed washed away from this iteration as they are only touched on briefly. Small character changes like the White Queen being in league with Magneto turned some comic purists off from the cartoon, and Kitty Pryde being presented as a damsel in distress at a time where her character in the comics had fully developed to being part of the team didn’t sit quite well either. I, myself am baffled by the decision to have Wolverine’s voice be distinctly Australian as his Canadian identity is a pivotal part of his character. It’s also funny to see an Australian Wolverine, a decade before we had an Australian actor, Hugh Jackman, play Wolverine in live action in 2000’s X-Men. Alas X-Men was not picked up for future episodes as Marvel Entertainment started having financial issues and was purchased by The Andrew’s Group who halted production on all animated projects at acquisition.
Luckily Pryde of the X-Men left an impression on the head of Fox’s Children’s Network who ordered a full 13 episode season in 1990 that would become X-Men: The Animated Series. X-Men: The Animated Series would run from 1992 to 1997 lasting 5 seasons and go down as one of the best animated superhero shows of all time. X-Men: The Animated Series paved the way for modern animated superhero shows and in 1994, Spider-Man: The Animated Series would join its universe to the same critical acclaim. Both shows featured guest appearances by many of Marvel’s most popular characters and launched numerous toy lines. In 1992 Konami would base what is arguable one of the best arcade games of all time, X-Men, on the plot of Pryde of the X-Men cementing the legacy of a show pitch that may have been ahead of its time. The pilot was eventually released on VHS and you can stream Pryde of the X-Men on YouTube today.
