X-Men '97

Damien said:
Would be nice if these cheap-ass BILLION DOLLAR corporations could just green-light more than one season at a time so we wouldn't have seventeen years between seasons. Where they then blame 'lack of interest' on the consumer and cancel the show.
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Indeed. I hate the current model everyone uses.

joshsquash729 said:
I definitely read that in Todd McFarlane's voice.

Gonna be a long wait indeed. A few of those characters I already have or are already out- not in animated style, obviously, but wondering if I shouldn't just put them in the display now to keep myself busy for half a year. Definitely gonna pre-order that Apocalypse before the window runs out- too cool not to have.

I think the wait is just because it's animation, which always takes a bit longer. I know some animated shows churn things out faster, but I'm cool to wait if it keeps the quality up and doesn't kill the poor crew working on it. But they did officially renew it for season 3, and I wanna say the voice actors said that recording was being done recently, so hopefully it won't be too too long a wait- at least no longer than between season 1 and 2.
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I think you are correct and season 3 should be relatively close behind, though it’s still suboptimal since what qualifies as a season these days is a mere 10 episodes. Gone are the days of a massive 65 episode order to spread across 2-3 years.
 
Looks like S2 should be subtitled "Ages of Apocalypse."

I'm sure it's exciting to most everyone else, but I am really bummed to see every costume change. The consistency of character look and design was key to the lasting impact of the original series, and this looks like a hodge-podge of "throw in whatever we can" and it's an unattractive mash-up.
 
Ooo hooo hooo, give me that '97 X-Factor lineup. And X-Force costume Sunspot. You got your Sabertooth there, Misfit.

I don't want a lot of slots spent on random time travel variants of Wolverine, Cyclops, Magneto, etc.... but that seems like it's going to be a given.
 
Revox said:
I for one am very much looking forward to the prospect of getting some New X-Men designs out of this.
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My concern is that they'll lack the sculpted detail I associate with comic based MLs. Several '97 figures streamline and smooth out a bunch of sculpted detail, which works fine for the animated source material, but I'm gonna want Quitely designs to retain their detail.
 
Maybe they can space out the releases between 97 and then another retro themed card line just to get numbers out.

Remember that cool orange and purple Wolverine card?
 
NORM said:
My concern is that they'll lack the sculpted detail I associate with comic based MLs. Several '97 figures streamline and smooth out a bunch of sculpted detail, which works fine for the animated source material, but I'm gonna want Quitely designs to retain their detail.
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Oh for sure they're not going to be meant to be compatible.
 
Aside from the heads, I can see the vast majority of 97 X-men figures being reused for comic figures.....if they weren't already. Nightcrawler, yellow Wolverine, Gambit, and upcoming 2 pack Storm are all comic figures with minor tweaks. If they do a comic baed Jim Lee Cyclops I can't imagine they don't just reuse this buck a third time. I think Jean and white Storm could be easily passed off as comic figures. Actually, I think the few that you'd have trouble passing off as "comic" versions might be the super-stylized Morph, maybe X-Cutioner and Cable.
 
Well yeah, most of those reuse existing comic sculpts. There’s plenty of overlap. But like you mentioned, some look more animated because they are brand new sculpts for ‘97 and reflect the animated style. If they reuse existing parts for Quitely New X-Men designs, then sure, they could blend with comic figures. But if they sculpt new for those designs, then they’ll fall into that Morph/Executioner/Cable category.
 
Schizm said:
Looks like S2 should be subtitled "Ages of Apocalypse."

I'm sure it's exciting to most everyone else, but I am really bummed to see every costume change. The consistency of character look and design was key to the lasting impact of the original series, and this looks like a hodge-podge of "throw in whatever we can" and it's an unattractive mash-up.
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Exactly why I hated the way the '70s era costumes were included in the first season. It feels like they want to speed-run every iconic look the characters have ever had, regardless of whether it fits them as they are in the series. Costume changes should feel special and earned and should last more than 3 episodes. Like what they did with Storm was a decent way to handle it... if her costume had changed into any other costume, like her 2000s costume or outback version, instead of the egregious nostalgia-bait of sticking her in the classic outfit. I kind of get that they wanted to revisit an era that the original series "skipped", but the way they've handled it feels cheap and unearned. Felt the same way about "Magik's" and "Psylocke's" cameos, like they're giving up on going deep into the X-Men lineup and just want to cash in on the popular looks and characters without doing anything meaningful with them.
 
I don’t know about all that, they’re just costumes. They’re supposed to be fun. And it’s not like they didn’t serve a narrative purpose in the first season and I would guess they will in season two. They’re all flung to different points in time so it’s not like they have access to their usual wardrobe. I would guess the season ends with them either back in their 92 suits or in a new, cohesive, team uniform.
 
I look at it the other way: The new cartoon is getting a season every like two years if we're lucky. The likelihood of another adult-oriented X-Men cartoon in the next 10 years is extremely low. Fact is, there is just tons of ground to cover and they can't possibly. So if they want to put in things like quick/temporary costume changes or shallow cameos -- I'm fine with it, because it's obviously just an attempt to get those things on screen so every X-fan can have at least one Leo pointing on the couch moment.

The only time it will bother me is if they do it in a way that actively makes the story itself worse, which I don't think they did in S1.
 
Damien said:
I look at it the other way: The new cartoon is getting a season every like two years if we're lucky. The likelihood of another adult-oriented X-Men cartoon in the next 10 years is extremely low. Fact is, there is just tons of ground to cover and they can't possibly. So if they want to put in things like quick/temporary costume changes or shallow cameos -- I'm fine with it, because it's obviously just an attempt to get those things on screen so every X-fan can have at least one Leo pointing on the couch moment.
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That's what I mean - they're basically admitting defeat right from the start. Including Magik as a cameo in season 1 is them saying that she's never gonna be a real character in this show, which just seems like throwing in the towel too early. There's no good reason why this show couldn't run for a decade, add a spinoff, and cover stuff like the splinter teams in decent depth. I guess that's just the problem with seasonal television though, future seasons are never guaranteed so they can't really plan out 6 seasons in advance, making them just cross off that checklist of iconic character moments and costumes as quickly as they can. Good for anyone who wants those costumes in toy form too I guess, barring the stylistic incompatibilities mentioned earlier.
 
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