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Do you need to watch X-Men: The Animated series to understand X-Men '97?

By Matthew Liebl

(L-R): Beast (voiced by George Buza), Wolverine (voiced by Cal Dodd), Morph (voiced by JP Karliak), Bishop (voiced by Isaac Robinson-Smith), Rogue (voiced by Lenore Zann), Gambit (voiced by AJ LoCascio), Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith), Cyclops (voiced by Ray Chase) in Marvel Animation's X-MEN '97. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL.
(L-R): Beast (voiced by George Buza), Wolverine (voiced by Cal Dodd), Morph (voiced by JP Karliak), Bishop (voiced by Isaac Robinson-Smith), Rogue (voiced by Lenore Zann), Gambit (voiced by AJ LoCascio), Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith), Cyclops (voiced by Ray Chase) in Marvel Animation's X-MEN '97. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. /
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X-Men '97 finally debuted on Disney+ this week. Marvel Animation's newest series serves as a sequel to the hit '90s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series.

X-Men: The Animated Series is considered by many to be one of the best-animated superhero series of all time. Its adaptations of numerous X-Men comic book storylines are considered to be among the best by Marvel fans.

But the series is over 20 years old now with the final episode last airing in September 1997. For many Disney+ subscribers and Marvel fans, this was before you were even born.

So with X-Men '97 out now on Disney+, you may be wondering if this is a series you can jump right into or if you first need to watch X-Men: The Animated Series to understand what's going on.

Do you need to watch X-Men: The Animated Series before X-Men '97?

X-Men '97 is considered a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, continuing the story where that series ended. The synopsis reads:

"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."

Okay, so we know the series will channel the energy of the original '90s animated series, but that doesn't really tell us much in terms of the story itself. I don't want to get too much into spoilery territory in case you do plan on watching the original series, but let's just say it ended with the loss of a key character. This series follows the X-Men as they face new dangers in the wake of that loss.

Again though, how important is it to be familiar with the original series?

Having watched the first two episodes of X-Men '97, I can safely confirm that you do not need to watch X-Men: The Animated Series to understand what's going on.

If you're at all familiar with the X-Men, then you should already know the main characters in the series: Cyclops, Wolverine, Bishop, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee and Morph, among others.

As for the story itself, Marvel released a brief recap video of The Animated Series which, while vague, does touch on the important bits of relevant information you need to know. If you don't plan on watching all 70-plus episodes of The Animated Series, then this is probably a good place to start before watching X-Men '97. At the very least, it will introduce you to the main characters and provide a bit of context for where we are at in X-Men '97.

As someone who did grow up with The Animated Series in the '90s, even I found this recap video helpful as it reminded me of some of the main story beats. It was a nice refresher, even for a longtime fan of the original series.

Now that said, while you don't need to watch X-Men: The Animated Series to understand X-Men '97, you absolutely should! Not only will you appreciate the character dynamics more but it's just a darn good series.

Although the animation doesn't really hold up all that well, it remains some of the best X-Men storytelling and most faithful adaptations of the comics. For Marvel newcomers, it's a great introduction to the X-Men. And if you're already a fan of the comics, then you'll appreciate its ability to adapt even the weirder villains and plotlines.

Right now the first two episodes of X-Men '97 are out now on Disney+. Season 1 consists of 10 episodes with new ones dropping weekly every Wednesday.

If you're not one who likes to wait weekly to watch a new episode and prefer to binge a series, you have until May 15th until all 10 episodes of X-Men '97 are out. If you're waiting, that gives you almost two months to go back and watch X-Men: The Animated Series. That should be plenty of time to work your way through the series.

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