X-Men '97 has received an overwhelmingly positive response from Marvel fans since launching on Disney+ a couple of weeks ago, and for those who grew up watching X-Men: The Animated Series, it's proved to be a pitch-perfect revival.
However, with season 2 and 3 on the horizon, it looks like Marvel Animation plans to put its own spin on the fan-favourite mutants moving forward.
We've already seen hints that Storm will return to the team with a new look after being rendered powerless in the second episode, but scooper @CanWeGetToast is today reporting that all the X-Men will get new suits by the time season 1 concludes.
This will no doubt upset some viewers, particularly as the current costumes they're wearing are nothing short of iconic. However, the X-Men have boasted many looks on the page over the years, and while this first season can rely on nostalgia, future episodes will need to do more than that to keep this series relevant.
Does this mean we'll see the team move into the 2000s? That remains to be seen, but we're sure everyone will have something to say about whatever designs Marvel Studios goes with (we would, however, bet on them borrowing more from the comics than new versions created for the MCU).
In other Marvel Animation news, it was also reported this weekend that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going to feature an appearance from The Watcher. We're not sure why, though we're sure you'll remember that the What If...? narrator also appeared in an episode of I Am Groot last year.
During a recent interview, Marvel Studios streaming boss and X-Men '97 executive producer Brad Winderbaum actually addressed the notion of modernising this specific take on mutant superheroes.
"Our #1 rule was to emulate our memory of the original," he explained. "That was more important than emulating frame by frame what is was. Because if you watch the original show, the animation shifts. Working with [X-Men: The Animated Series director Larry Houghton] and [Eric Lewald, who developed the show, and Julia Lewald] who worked on the original show, this was part of their guidance - to show us where those limitations were, to see those guardrails, and try to get to the same place."
"We always wanted to evoke that feeling, which means we had to try to match the style, or people's memories of the style. Through the design process, it was challenging to not modernize. [We kept] arcing it back to the original, kind of old-fashioned design; big, bubbly muscles, soft curves.
"With our modern sensibilities - we've all watched so much anime and are fans of modern animation - it's very easy to go angular," Winderbaum continued. "But we were constantly trying to go back to that soft '90s kind of vibe."
The first three episodes of X-Men '97 are now streaming on Disney+.