The Big Picture

X-Men ’97 tackles themes of hate, conflicting ideologies, and societal acceptance with the iconic mutants.
Magneto takes on the role of leading the X-Men, showcasing the complexity of his character and beliefs.
Season 2 promises new factions, time periods, and characters like Jubilee and Logan to explore in depth.

The X-Men have stood for the underrepresented almost since their creation in 1963. The challenges that mutants face in the Marvel universe offer compelling stories of how hate can drive our actions. The story of Charles Xavier and his X-Men finding their place in society and their conflict with Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) isn’t one of good or evil but of conflicting ideologies.

X-Men ‘97 dives head first into this topic as Magneto is forced to lead the X-Men. Not only that, but he puts aside his own feelings and attempts to bring about change by doing it the way Charles would have wanted. In doing so, the series tackles heavy themes that showcase there’s not really a right or wrong answer. Speaking with directors Emi/Emmett Yonemura (episodes 3, 5, 7, and 9) and Chase Conley (episodes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), they revealed the importance of the X-Men and what they represent while also teasing what’s to come in the show’s second season.

X-Men ’97 A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.Release Date March 20, 2024 Cast Jennifer Hale , Cal Dodd , Chris Potter , Catherine Disher , Adrian Hough , Ray Chase , Lenore Zann Seasons 1 Number of Episodes 10 Streaming Service(s) Disney+ Franchise(s) X-Men

The Beauty of Superhero Comics and Animation
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MIKE THOMAS: I wanted to ask both of you about this series. What brought you into the world of the X-Men? It has been such a delight to see the reverence you all have had for the show, the comics, and all that. So, what brought you to this project?

CHASE CONLEY: Well, I’ll do a short version of a long ass story. But I think that for me, I spent a lot of my early years with my grandparents in rural North Carolina, and my grandfather, who had diabetes, would need to drive into town. That’s how small it was, drive into town to go to the pharmacy to get his medication all the time. And so they had spinner racks everywhere. And I bought X-Men comics, and he’d buy me one. So that was, I would just ride with him because I knew he would give me a comic book.

At the time, comic books—I always say this—were the highest form of tangibility in terms of visuals that you would see these worlds explore because video games and movies had not caught up yet in terms of special effects and all that stuff. So if you wanted to see a world that was created, and tangible, and just conceptually out there, comic books was your best avenue for that. So I was instantly hooked, and yeah, The X-Men was my first coincidentally, and then I discovered anime and those things just meshed. My DNA was rewritten at that point.

Image via Disney+

EMI/EMMETT YONEMURA: I love that. Yeah, I’m an animation kid. You know, I sat in front of the TV growing up. I mean, I think Chase [Conley] and I are pretty similar because we have a lot of similar influences. So, honestly, my introduction to X-Men was the original animated series and I fell in love with it because I loved that it was action-packed.

I loved the style I thought it was like, it wasn’t really like a lot of what we were seeing for American animation being produced. And then, from there, my draw to this show was not only was I gonna work on one of my childhood favorites but, you know, I’ve, I’ve been at multiple studios and to actually get to work with a group of heroes who have a very important message about civil rights and a reflection of what’s going on in the world. I just jumped at the opportunity. It felt to me like my art might actually mean something. So it’s just kind of a pleasure to get to work with heroes who just mean a lot to everybody.

The Death of an X-Man

Yeah, that’s something that [Head Director] Jake [Castorena] was saying earlier about this being an IP that has something to say, right? So, I want to use that as a jumping-off point. We get to episode five, right? I mean, and we have the attack on Genosha the death of Gambit. What was, what was it like going into that episode when everything falls apart? And we have this giant moment of loss and pain. What was it like navigating these characters through that?

YONEMURA: You know, I always feel like we have to earn that kind of loss. We, you know, I never wanted it to feel gratuitous. I never want to feel like we’re just trying to manipulate an audience to feel one thing or another but to actually earn it, which takes time and it’s very careful to craft. It’s hard with the breakneck pace of this show to establish a place like Genosha and then to take it all away and then, you know, to establish how cool Gambit is because I don’t know how that guy gets so underrated except for people in the comics who just know.

So it really felt good to finally be like throughout, you know, the first four episodes, we were really kind of helping layer him [Gambit] in and build him up, especially with the crop top [laughs] and then to then earn to, then earn that death, you know, and make it, you know, the scoundrel who is a hero. It’s our love for these characters, and it’s just how would I want to see my best friend go out. Not that I want to, but how do we send them off?

Understanding the Complexities of Magneto

That episode [105 – “Remember It”] was so shocking because along the way, it felt like, oh the classic X-Men we grew up with 30 years ago, and then it was like, “oh, no, things get real very quickly,” and it hits you. Chase, the X-Men has always been, like we’ve already said the X-Men have always been a story that has something to say that has a deeper meaning to it. A character like Magneto, right? Magneto is not a typical villain in many ways. I think you guys have shown Magneto can be, right? So, what was it like weaving that into the story? He’s dealing with Charles’s ideals and seeing them kind of fall apart by the time we get to the end of the end of the season. How was it kind of tackling the complexities of Magneto and Xavier?

CONELY: Well, I’ve always kind of identified with Magneto as a character. He’s one of my favorite characters in fiction. You know, it was a good jumping-off point as well. I think that the trial of Magneto especially, you know, even from a visual standpoint of him standing in front of the UN with this big M on his chest to me, it doesn’t, you know, even that iconic cover, it’s like that M doesn’t stand for Magneto, it stands for mutants, right? So, Mutant kind, they’re on trial. And I think that you know, regardless of individual actions, they get lumped in with the whole, and I find that allegory to be relevant as far as my experience as a black man, you know, in the, in this world. Whereas unfortunately, this is my opinion; a lot of times, we’re not judged as individuals. It’s like when one person does something, a lot of times they wanna try to lump us into the entire category of like, this is what they do, as opposed to giving us the benefit of, of being individuals, you know?

So, I think that we have that kind of responsibility kind of instilled in us at a young age, which in a lot of ways, is unfair. It’s like, you have to be excellent because you’re representative of the whole. Whereas other groups of people don’t necessarily [have to]. We don’t get the luxuries of being individuals in that capacity. So to me, it was really easy, and also, I’ve always disagreed with Charles’ ideology. I understand it, and I know that it exists, but I would lean more toward Magneto because I believe that he is right. So it makes it even easier.

I also like the pride in which he carries himself and outwardly is like “I am a mutant.” and not so from a supremacy standpoint, but “I. AM. A. MUTANT,” right? But I do believe that there i’s a level of arrogance there that I also just enjoy drawing; because he is godly. He’s an omega-level mutant, and he carries himself as such, but he’s also seen a lot of trauma. And so it’s also interesting to explore a person whose every single aspect of their life has led them here. And so you can’t say that he’s wrong because it look at how everything has played out from the holocaust to the, the to Genosha to many other things that has happened in his life to kind of form his, ideology, you know, you can’t argue with that.

What’s Next in Season 2?
Image via Disney+

I’ve got one last question for both of you because I know we’re running short on time. You’ve already been working on season two. So, what are you most excited to dive into? We have the X-Men broken up into different factions and different time periods, and we have potentially a new team showing up, and Apocalypse, out of the things you can say, what are you most excited about in Season 2?

YONEMURA: Well, I’m excited for people to see where Jubilee goes, you know, because she got left behind; she just saw her family disappear. What does that do to a person? So I’m excited for everyone to see more of Jubilee and what might happen.

CONELY: Also Logan! We saw what happened in 109, and just the fall out of that, and I think that that’s always an interesting storyline and an age, and in comics as well, that brought up some very interesting stories. So, I would say Logan for sure.

All episodes of X-Men ‘97 are now streaming on Disney+.

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