We're one week away from X-Men '97's launch on Disney+ and a new featurette has been released today which reveals tonnes of never-before-seen footage from the X-Men: The Animated Series revival.
Visually, the show looks phenomenal and it appears to have the right blend of modern animation with the original's retro style; we also have a poster featuring the X-Men blasting their way through some VHS cases (Marvel Studios is clearly having fun leaning into this team's '90s roots).
Interestingly, while this sneak peek includes plenty of comments from X-Men '97's creative team and cast, there's no sign of showrunner Beau DeMayo. Yesterday, news broke that he'd been fired from the show despite gearing up to start the press tour this week.
We still don't have any specifics about why he was dismissed, but it's not overly surprising that any interview footage he shot will no longer be used. The whole thing is a bit of a mystery, anyway, and we're sure he'll eventually issue some sort of statement about this unexpected parting of the ways with Marvel Studios.
Check out this new X-Men '97 featurette and poster below.
"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," reads a brief synopsis.
Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), George Buza (Beast), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), Lenore Zann (Rogue), and Chris Britton (Mister Sinister) will all reprise their X-Men: The Animated Series roles in X-Men '97.
However, Catherine Disher, the original Jean Grey, is now voicing Dr. Valerie Cooper. Chris Potter, the original Gambit, is now playing Cable. Lawrence Bayne, the original Cable, is now playing X-Cutioner. Ron Rubin, the original Morph, is now playing President Robert Edward Kelly. Alyson Court, the original Jubilee, will take on the role of Abscissa.
Ray Chase is the new Cyclops, and he'll be joined by Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, JP Karliak as Morph, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, Ross Marquand as Professor X, Giu Augustini as Sunspot, Gil Birmingham as Forge, and Eric Bauza as the Sentinels.
Beau DeMayo serves as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Featuring music by The Newton Brothers, the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.
X-Men '97 is set to premiere on Disney+ on March 20.