Longtime viewers ofX-Men: The Animated Seriesnow have a sequel series inX-Men ’97, but it is not the first Marvel property to branch off from the belovedX-Menadaptation.The originalX-Men: The Animated Seriestook animation to unprecedented heights, providing viewers with mature storytelling while remaining action-packed and highly accurate to the source material. The show lasted five seasons, with 76 episodes from its 1992 debut to its 1997 finale. Given its overwhelmingly positive reception among viewers and critics alike, it is not surprising thatX-Menwould be continued in some form sooner or later.
Overlapping continuity is rather common in massive franchises, including the various Marvel universes. Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz created the Marvel Comics 2 (MC2) universe in 1998 with an issue of What If…? which branched off into various comic lines, includingSpider-Girl. Since the MC2 universe branches off from the end of theClone Sagain Earth-616 (Marvel’s mainstream published continuity), every 616 story that takes place before theClone Saga’sconclusion is overlapping canon with MC2. This same principle applies tothe episodes ofX-Men: The Animated Series, whose first three seasons are overlapping canon with three timelines.
X-Men’s First Branching Timeline Began Before The Show Concluded
Around the same time asX-Men: The Animated Series’sdebut, Marvel began publishing theX-Men Adventurescomics, which began as simple adaptations of the animated series itself. Although there were some (mostly minute) differences between how events were depicted, the stories told in the animated series andAdventureswere largely identical. For this, the two are overlapping canon, but this changed after the third season of bothX-Men: The Animated SeriesandX-Men Adventures. There were neverX-Men Adventuresadaptations of seasons 4 and 5, anda new series – titledAdventures of the X-Men– began instead.
The Best X-Men: The Animated Series Episode For Each Major X-Men Team Member
X-Men: The Animated Series featured a quintessential X-Men team. Each member was centered in an episode capturing their essential characterization.
Adventures of the X-Mentold new stories that would often conflict with the continuity ofX-Men: The Animated Series, making it part of a new branching timeline after the events of season 3. Notably,Adventures of the X-Menwas not a revival, as the mainX-Menseries was ongoing at the time. Moreover,Adventures of the X-Menended months beforeX-Men: The Animated Series’series finale.
Sadly, the branching reality shown inAdventures of the X-Menis destroyed in the comic’s finale, which featured one final conflict between the X-Men and their universe’s Dweller-in-Darkness.
X-Men ‘92 Was The First X-Men Animated Series Revival
18 years after the finale of the originalX-Men: The Animated Series, Marvel gave the show its first official revival.During the 2015Secret Warsevent, Marvel brought back the universe of theX-Menserieswith theX-Men ’92comics. WhileAdventures of the X-Menbranched off from only the first three seasons of the animated series,X-Men ’92took the entire series into account, continuing where season 5 left off.X-Men ’92sees the return of Charles Xavier and expands the roster of the X-Men, adding Generation X as both a new hero team and new students for Xavier’s school.
X-Men ’92also adds characters who were unable to appear in the original run ofX-Men: The Animated Series, such as Deadpool and other members of X-Force. New villains are introduced as well, such as Casandra Nova, Andrea and Andreas von Strucker, and Death’s Head. Mister Sinister, a returning villain from the original animated series, notably meets his demise inX-Men ’92. Despite being a relatively short-lived comic series,X-Men ’92was a worthy follow-up toX-Men: The Animated Series.
Before the premiere ofX-Men ’97, Chris Sims, one of the writers ofX-Men ’92, noted on social media that the comic series is not set in the same continuity as the originalX-Men: The Animated Series, revealing its status as a branching timeline.
X-Men ‘97 Is The Latest X-Men Revival, But Is It Compatible With X-Men ‘92?
X-Men: The Animated Serieswould have another – and even more popular – continuation in 2024 with the release ofX-Men ’97, which also continued from the events of the original show’s fifth season. Although bothX-Men ’92andX-Men ’97are excellent continuations of the originalX-Men: The Animated Series, they are, unfortunately, incompatible, making’97the third branching timeline.’97retains the roster of heroes from the originalX-Menseries and Mister Sinister is, notably, still alive.X-Men ’97is expected to continue with at least two more seasons, making it the most successful continuation ofX-Men: The Animated Series.
X-Men: The Animated Series
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X-Men: The Animated Series is a television show based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The series, which aired from 1992 to 1997, follows the adventures of a team of mutant superheroes, led by Professor Charles Xavier, as they fight for peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants in a world filled with prejudice and fear.
