The X-Men face a new and unexpected threat after the death of their founder Charles Xavier in the trailer of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97, which promises to bring back several fan-favourite mutant characters — Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast and Storm — from the 1992 animated series, this time on a digital platform.
Dropped by Marvel Entertainment on Thursday, the one-minute-46-second-long trailer picks up after the events of the fifth season of X-Men: The Animated Series which ended with Professor X’s death. It is clear from the video that Xavier’s students are still grappling with the loss of their mentor in a world where they need to protect the same humanity that hates them. By continuing to believe in each other, the team of mutants try to carry on Xavier’s legacy in the face of what seems like a terrorist attack orchestrated by Magneto, a friend-turned-enemy of Xavier.
While Ray Chase has voiced Cyclops, Jennifer Hale has lent her voice to Jean Grey, who is shown as pregnant in the trailer. Other voice-cast members include Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue and George Buza as Beast.
Magneto is voiced by Matthew Waterson, while Adrian Hough has lent his voice to Nightcrawler, son of mutant supervillain Mystique.
X-Men '97 trailer garnered over five million views on YouTube after its premiere. The series is written by Beau DeMayo and the episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura.
With music scored by The Newton Brothers, the series is produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.
The 1992 animated series of X-Men follows the adventures of Professor Charles Xavier and his team of mutants as they battle against villains like Magneto, Sentinels and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Marvel’s X-Men has been adapted into several movies, the first of which came out in 2000. Led by an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian McKellen as Magneto, the X-Men franchise has a total of 11 films so far.
X-Men '97 is set to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on March 20.
