With the first season of X-Men '97 in the books, Marvel's latest animated series is now also the highest-rated Marvel Studios project to date.
Following the Season 1 finale earlier this month, reviews for the show have continued to roll in. With 73 reviews counted as of this writing, the first season of X-Men '97 now sits at a near-perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. The score has been fluctuating between 99% and 100% on the Tomatometer, but either would make it the highest-rated Marvel project — live-action or animated, theaters or television — in the 16-year history of the MCU.
The previous top-rated Disney+ show was 2022's Ms. Marvel, which currently sits at a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Marvel's highest rated movie to date is 2018's Black Panther at 96%.
In addition to being a critical darling, X-Men '97 has been a streaming success for Disney+. According to Deadline, the season finale for X-Men '97 was the most-viewed full-length animation series finale since Season 1 of What If...?. The Walt Disney Company confirmed that the final episode saw 3.5M views globally in its first five days on the streaming platform.
Suffice to say, this bodes well for Marvel — not only for the future of X-Men '97 but for any future plans to incorporate the X-Men in the MCU. Marvel has been slowly teasing the arrival of Mutants in the MCU, but has yet to formally announce a full-blown X-Men movie.
We've seen cameos from Fox's previous X-Men movies make their way into the MCU, but it's believed Marvel's team will be a completely new one. While it'll still likely be comprised of the same iconic characters — and maybe a few new additions — it will probably be all new actors portraying them.
The upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine will feature the return of Hugh Jackman's version of Wolverine from the Fox universe, but it will likely be his last rodeo as the adamantium-clawed mutant. The film could, however, serve as a major stepping stone to the next full-fledged X-Men movie.
In the meantime, Disney has reportedly already greenlit a second season of X-Men '97.