Having been a fan of the original series as a child, I was ecstatic when I heard that Disney+ was not only bringing back the show, but continuing it with the same feel of animation style and a lot of the same voice actors. So it’s only fair that I also share my thoughts on this new season, and how it stacks up to the original series.
As always, we break down our reviews in the categories of story, acting, and overall. To me my X-Men!
Story 8/10
In the original series we dealt a lot with the story of the weeks overarching stories, but primarily the show did a very good job focusing primarily on one-off episodes that can be watched alone. Maybe two episodes that need to be watched together or? An episode that related back to a prior episode. In the series. This season of the show. Specifically deals with. A very important storyline. And while there are a couple episodes that can stand out on its own., the series specifically. Is telling me story or a journey for the characters.
If you’re a fan of the comic books, this season focuses a lot. On Bolivar Trask, Mr. Sinister, Bastion, the Wild Sentinal, Madelyne Pryor, the birth of Cable, the trial of Magneto, and the birth of Onslaught (or at least reference to it).
While the show does a great job telling these interesting well-loved comic book arcs, it does so in a new way, almost speedrunning them, and all with the amazing voice talent of the show behind it.
Acting 8.5/10
A couple things feel slightly off watching this show, as our brain tries to deal with the fact that a lot of our beloved voice actors have gotten older, and some of them have been replaced with actors doing their best to fill the void of the prior seasons. It’s important to note that return to the series our some of our favorite characters and voice actors Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, and Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm.
The actors not returning to the series due to an inability, or other reasons, include Professor X, originally played by Cedric Smith replace by Ross Marquand, Cyclops, originally played by Norm Spencer, replaced by Ray Chase, Jubilee, originally played by Alyson Court, replaced by Holly Chou, Jean Grey, originally played by Catherine Disher, replaced by Jennifer Hale, Gambit, originally played by Chris Potter, replaced by A.J. LoCascio, and Magneto, originally played by David Hemblen, replaced by Mathew Waterson.
Well, a lot of the voice actors are much older with over 20 years having passed, they all give it their best and you can still feel a lot of the energy of the prior show with the over-the-top almost soap opera like acting of the characters in their stories.
Overall 8.5/10
I feel like the overarching story of the season does a slight disservice to the fun and over-the-top action stories that we loved as children watching the series, but feels more on point with the topical stories of the X-Men comics which usually took a heavy hand and only slowly and slightly entered into the animated Series.
That being said, a series like this that was designed for children of the past, and is now servicing the nostalgic adults of today, a little bit more drama and a little bit more seriousness is not something that we can’t handle. Also, personally, I welcome it.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
I find it a little bit frustrating that they specifically did not want Wolverine highlighted or given a mainstay in the series. Wolverine was a major character in the original show and had several if not many arcs that gave him growth and development.
I understand that they didn’t want to over inundate viewers with Wolverine, specifically also with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine on the horizon, but it felt off energy-wise for the series to just have Wolverine slightly in the corner nodding his head and hand waving story lines, like he didn’t care.
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