Marvel Studios has finally revealed when its X-Men 97 TV series will debut on Disney Plus – and its arrival isn't far off.
Confirmed at the end of the Disney Plus show's official trailer, which was released today (February 15), Marvel revealed its spiritual successor to X-Men: The Animated Series will launch on Wednesday, March 20. At the time of writing, that's just over a month – 34 days, to be exact – away.
As for the trailer itself, it's a nostalgia-fueled first look that'll delight fans of the iconic mutant team's first animated adventure. Indeed, the Marvel Phase 5 show's first trailer doesn't just open with a nod to classic Saturday morning cartoon ads of old, it also begins with a brief look at the final minutes of The Animated Series' last episode. Don't worry, though, it doesn't spend its near-two-minute runtime taking a poignant walk down memory lane – indeed, the teaser quickly transitions to footage from the X-Men's newest animated series, showing off X-Men 97 in all its cell-shaded glory.
If you were concerned that X-Men 97 might not live up to the lofty expectations set by its forebear, you need not worry. There's lots to enjoy about its first teaser, including a Wolverine-Gambit team-up that sees the latter imbue the former's adamantium claws with his kinetic charge-based abilities, and an attack from Oliver Trask's iconic mutant-killing weapons known as the Sentinels.
Oh, and for those wondering: yes, the legendary "To me, my X-Men!" line is uttered during the trailer (Cyclops says it), and there's a revamped version of X-Men: The Animated Series' beloved 1990s-era opening title track, complete with starry synth notes and banging guitar riff. Color. Us. Excited.
New episodes, new era. Marvel Animation’s #XMen97, streaming March 20 on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/C5jyMXwmPIFebruary 15, 2024
2024 is going to be a big year to be a fan of the X-Men. After the supergroup's long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut in The Marvels in late 2023 (albeit in a different universe to the MCU's Earth-616), X-Men 97 will be the first of two mutant-based projects that Marvel will deliver before the year ends. The second of those will be Deadpool 3, one of 2024's hotly-anticipated new movies, which debuts in theaters worldwide on July 26.
Marvel has been teasing the X-Men's eventual MCU arrival for years now, with references in multiple productions including Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It's highly unlikely that X-Men 97 will be canon in the MCU (we could be wrong, mind you), but it's nonetheless delightful to see that an X-Men-front series will land on Disney Plus, aka one of the world's best streaming services, very soon.
Marvel's big week
X-Men 97's release date announcement and trailer reveals are just the latest big unveilings from Marvel this week. Last Sunday (February 12) during the 2024 Super Bowl, the comic book giant debuted the first trailer for Deadpool 3 (now known as Deadpool and Wolverine), which will be the only Marvel movie of 2024. Be sure to read our Deadpool and Wolverine trailer breakdown if you haven't yet. Alternatively, find out why Marvel fans are convinced they've spotted two big character Easter eggs in Deadpool 3's trailer.
Then, yesterday (February 14), Marvel finally revealed the cast of its highly anticipated Fantastic Four movie. The Disney subsidiary also confirmed the supergroup's debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would come in July 2025 instead of May, and that it had a new title: The Fantastic 4. The first poster for Marvel's Fantastic Four film also appears to tease the perfectly fitting decade it'll be set.
Clearly, Marvel is coming out swinging after a brutal 12-month period that saw two of its last three films bomb at the box office, the sacking of Kang actor Jonathan Majors, and numerous other issues that led to more negative press. The comic book titan will be hoping X-Men, Deadpool and Wolverine, and the rest of its forthcoming line-up of movies and TV shows will get it back on an even footing.
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