The X-Men, a superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby that appears in comic books produced by Marvel Comics, has appeared in multiple television series since the team's inception in 1963. X-Men: The Animated Series premiered on Fox Kids in 1992 and ran for five seasons until 1997. The series is credited with bringing mainstream attention to the X-Men. Following the conclusion of The Animated Series, a new X-Men cartoon titled X-Men: Evolution began airing on Kids' WB from 2000 to 2003 for four seasons.
Across the various X-Men television series, which characters make up the team's roster and are members of the cast often changes. The only characters to have appeared as cast members and part of the X-Men across all five series are and Professor Charles Xavier, Scott Summers / Cyclops, Hank McCoy / Beast, James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine, and Ororo Munroe / Storm. Besides these five characters, Jean Grey, Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, and Rogue have appeared in all five shows and been cast members in three; Warren Worthington III also appears in all five shows, being a cast member in only one series.
Series | Season | Episodes | Originally released | Head writer | Director(s) | Network | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First released | Last released | |||||||
X-Men: The Animated Series | 1 | 13 | October 31, 1992 | March 27, 1993 | Eric Lewald | Larry Houston | Fox Kids | |
2 | 13 | October 23, 1993 | February 19, 1994 | |||||
3 | 19 | July 29, 1994 | October 5, 1996 | |||||
4 | 21 | May 6, 1995 | October 26, 1996 | |||||
5 | 10 | September 7, 1996 | September 20, 1997 | |||||
X-Men: Evolution | 1 | 13 | November 4, 2000 | May 12, 2001 | Greg Johnson | Various | Kids' WB | |
2 | 17 | September 29, 2001 | May 11, 2002 | |||||
3 | 13 | September 14, 2002 | August 23, 2003 | |||||
4 | 9 | August 30, 2003 | October 25, 2003 | |||||
Wolverine and the X-Men | 1 | 26 | January 23, 2009 | November 29, 2009 | Craig Kyle & Greg Johnson | Nicholas Filippi, Steven E. Gordon, Doug Murphy & Boyd Kirkland | Nicktoons | |
Marvel Anime: X-Men | 1 | 12 | April 1, 2011 | June 24, 2011 | Mitsutaka Hirota & Warren Ellis | Fuminori Kizaki | Animax & G4 | |
X-Men '97 | 1 | 10 | March 20, 2024 | May 22, 2024 | Beau DeMayo | Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura | Disney+ | |
2 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
In 1992, the Fox network launched X-Men: The Animated Series with the roster of Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, and Professor X with secondary background player Morph making occasional appearances. The two-part pilot episode, "Night of the Sentinels" began a five-season series. It was an extraordinary success and helped to widen the X-Men's popularity. [1] The five seasons ended in 1997. It returned to Fox's line-up for several months after the first movie was released in 2000. [2]
In 2000, The WB launched the X-Men: Evolution television series, which portrayed the X-Men as teenagers attending a regular public high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season. The show focused on Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Professor X, Spyke (Storm's nephew), in addition to introducing the character Laura Kinney / X-23, who has since become a recurring character in the comics. [1]
In 2008, Marvel Studios released a new X-Men animated show that featured Wolverine titled Wolverine and the X-Men . This series used a mesh of 2D/3D animation for characters and backgrounds. [3] Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, stated "X-Men is one of Marvel's crown jewels and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second animation project." [4] The series debuted in the United States on January 23, 2009 and in the U.K. in February. [3] [5] It also aired in Latin America and Canada. The team consisted of Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Storm, Shadowcat, Iceman, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Angel, Jean Grey, Colossus, Forge, and Professor X. The show was cancelled just after one season due to financing issues. [1]
As part of a four-series collaboration between the Japanese Madhouse animation house and Marvel, the X-Men starred in a 12 episode anime series that premiered in Japan on Animax and in the United States on G4 in 2011. [6] [7] The series deals with the X-Men coming to Japan to investigate the disappearance of Armor. The antagonists are reported to be the U-Men. [8] [9]
Set a year after the conclusion of The Animated Series—in which Xavier nearly died in an assassination attempt and was taken to space to be healed by the alien Shi'ar Empire—the X-Men face new challenges without Xavier, under the leadership of their former adversary Magneto. [10] [11]
In November 2021, Marvel announced that a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, titled X-Men '97 , [12] was in production and set to air on the streaming service Disney+. [13]
set to be released on Disney+ in 2024 and will be produced by Marvel Studios. Beau DeMayo will serve as the head writer and executive producer for the upcoming series with several cast members from the original animated series are set to reprise their roles and will be joined by new cast. Original animated series director Larry Houston, and its showrunners and producers Eric and Julia Lewald are announced as the consultants for the upcoming series. [14] [15] [16]
It is set to premiere on Disney+ on March 20, 2024 and run for 10 episodes. [17] A second season is in development.
The entire cast of The Animated Series reappear as main characters. Dodd, Sealy-Smith, Zann, Buza all reprise their roles as Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, and Beast, respectively. [18] At the beginning of the series Morph and Lucas Bishop also join the cast, voiced by J. P. Karliak (replacing Ron Rubin) and Isaac Robinson-Smith (replacing Philip Akin).
Character | Series | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) | X-Men: Evolution (2000–2003) | Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) | Marvel Anime: X-Men (2011) [19] | X-Men '97 (2024–present) | |
Scott Summers / Cyclops | Main | ||||
James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine | Main | ||||
Rogue | Main | Recurring | Guest | Main | |
Ororo Munroe / Storm | Main | ||||
Hank McCoy / Beast | Main | ||||
Remy LeBeau / Gambit | Main | Recurring | None | Main | |
Jubilation Lee / Jubilee | Main | Recurring | None | Main | |
Jean Grey | Main | Recurring | Main | ||
Charles Xavier / Professor X | Main | ||||
Spyke | None | Main | None | ||
Kitty Pryde / Shadowcat | None | Main | None | ||
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler | Guest | Main | Guest | Main | |
Warren Worthington III / Angel / Archangel | Recurring | Main | Guest | ||
Emma Frost | Guest | None | Main | Recurring | |
Bobby Drake / Iceman | Guest | Recurring | Main | None | |
Hisako Ichiki / Armor | None | Main | None | ||
Morph | Recurring | None | Main | ||
Lucas Bishop | Recurring | None | Recurring | None | Main |
Erik "Magnus" Lehnsherr / Magneto | Recurring | None | Main |
Series | Season | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
---|---|---|---|
X-Men: The Animated Series | 1 | 100% (18 reviews) [20] | — |
2 | — | — | |
3 | — | — | |
4 | — | — | |
5 | 50% (10 reviews) [21] | — | |
X-Men: Evolution | 1 | 71% (18 reviews) [22] | — |
2 | — | — | |
3 | — | — | |
4 | — | — | |
Wolverine and the X-Men | 1 | 67% (6 reviews) [23] | — |
X-Men '97 | 1 | 99% (79 reviews) [24] | 82 (14 reviews) [25] |
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in The X-Men #1. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to low sales, following its 1975 revival and subsequent direction under writer Chris Claremont, it became one of Marvel's most recognizable and successful franchises. They have appeared in numerous books, television shows, 20th Century Fox's X-Men films, and video games. The X-Men title may refer to the superhero team itself, the eponymous comic series, or the broader franchise, which includes various solo titles and team books, such as the New Mutants, Excalibur, and X-Force.
X-Men: The Animated Series, also known as X-Men, is an animated superhero television series aired in the United States for five seasons from October 31, 1992, to September 20, 1997, on Fox's Fox Kids programming block. It was Marvel Comics' second attempt at an animated X-Men television series after the pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was not picked up. Set in the same fictional universe as Spider-Man (1994–1998), Earth-92131, it was followed by a revival, X-Men '97, which began airing on March 20, 2024, on Disney+ to critical acclaim.
X-Men: Evolution is an American animated television series based on the superhero series X-Men published by Marvel Comics. Taking inspiration from the early issues of the original comics, the series portrays the X-Men as teenagers rather than adults, following their struggle to control their mutant powers as they face various threats. X-Men: Evolution ran for a total of four seasons, comprising 52 episodes in total, from November 4, 2000, to October 25, 2003, on Kids' WB, making it the third longest-running Marvel Comics animated series at the time, behind Fox Kids' X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man. Seasons one through three aired on Cartoon Network from August 31, 2001, to May 27, 2003. The series later aired on Disney XD from June 15, 2009, to December 30, 2011.
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Ultimate X-Men is a superhero comic book series, which was published by Marvel Comics, from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. The Ultimate X-Men exist alongside other revamped Marvel characters in Ultimate Marvel titles including Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four and The Ultimates.
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Wolverine and the X-Men is a 2009 American animated series by Marvel Entertainment. It is the fourth animated adaptation of the X-Men characters. In the show, Wolverine attempts to reassemble the X-Men and becomes their new leader, following a devastating incident that led to the disappearances of both Jean Grey and Charles Xavier.
X-Men is an American superhero film series based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The series was produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment from 2000 to 2020.
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This is a list of all media appearances of the Marvel Comics character Storm.
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Marvel Anime is a 2010 Japanese superhero anime television series by Madhouse and is based on the Marvel Comics universe. It is an anthology collection consisting of four twelve-episode animated series and two direct-to-video films. The entire series notably depicts Iron Man, Wolverine, Blade, and the members of the X-Men going to Japan.
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