“X-Men ’97” hit four million views in its first five days on Disney+.
According to Disney, this marks the streamer’s most-watched premiere for a full-length animated series since Season 1 of Marvel’s “What If…?” in 2021, putting “X-Men ’97” ahead of Season 2 of “What If…?” as well as “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures,” “Iwájú” and both seasons of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.” (Animated shorts, such as “Star Wars: Visions,” “I Am Groot” and “Zootopia+” are excluded from this count.)
“X-Men ’97” follows up on “X-Men: The Animated Series,” which ran on Fox Kids from 1992 to 1997. The new series follows the X-Men through new challenges after the loss of their leader, Professor Charles Xavier. The cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler.
Beau DeMayo serves as head writer of “X-Men ’97,” while episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo executive produce.
The series has been positively received, scoring a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with Variety critic Alison Herman writing that the series “dedicate[s] its energies to doing right by a nostalgia object while introducing itself to a new audience,” for which it “can take bigger, wilder swings in its story, staying true to the fantastical nature of comics writing while remaining grounded in characters’ emotions.”