Marvel Studios TV Shows and Animation on Disney+

[Big s]

40 minutes ago, Jeff J said:

I think it's about how Cyke is in his civvies, optic blasting the sky, when his name appears in text on the screen.

He was on date night when things got interrupted……..again 

[Axelay]

Finally got around to watching the second episode. I like some of the subtle changes to the intro. I'm hoping that maybe at some point Cable will get a cameo/name callout in the theme.

[sh9000]

Episode 1 intro.

Episode 2 intro.

New and original intro.

Hope all of the episodes have different intros.

Edited March 23 by sh9000

[sh9000]

Dante's Inferno.

[Big s]

On 3/23/2024 at 2:32 PM, sh9000 said:

Episode 1 intro.

Episode 2 intro.

New and original intro.

Hope all of the episodes have different intros.

The old one has a couple of intros as well. Although none are as cool as the Japanese version. 

[Mog]

So, my initial impressions of this new X-Men series?

It definitely feels like a continuation of the old cartoon, which is both a good and bad thing.

I could do without the soap opera, character drama.  I really don’t want these love triangle things to be stretched out.  Same with the big dark secrets stuff.

But some of the underlying messages in the stories are solid.

And Morph has vastly improved.  Both for being a walking cameo for all characters in the X-Men pantheon and for being a true bro’ to Wolvie.

[sh9000]

Excellent episode 3 of X-Men '97.  I think it's going to be a great season.

New intro.

[Big s]

9 hours ago, Mog said:

And Morph has vastly improved.  Both for being a walking cameo for all characters in the X-Men pantheon and for being a true bro’ to Wolvie.

Technically, he was just added so he could be killed off without killing the main cast. I’m still on my rewatching and he’s only in a small handful of episodes 

[sh9000]

I'd definitely watch a season of Spider-Man '98 and season 2 of Wolverine and the X-Men if they were released.

[Mog]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

Technically, he was just added so he could be killed off without killing the main cast. I’m still on my rewatching and he’s only in a small handful of episodes 

True, but they’re actually utilizing his copycat skills a lot more interestingly in the new series.

Also, it seems like

Spoiler

they’re letting him have some of the physical attributes of the people he impersonates (like Archangel’s wings or Collossus’ metal body).

Honestly, it seems like they’re blurring the lines between his and comic book Mimic’s powers.  But whatever.  Makes for interesting visuals.

 

[Big s]

5 minutes ago, Mog said:

True, but they’re actually utilizing his copycat skills a lot more interestingly in the new series.

Also, it seems like

  Hide contents

they’re letting him have some of the physical attributes of the people he impersonates (like Archangel’s wings or Collossus’ metal body).

Honestly, it seems like they’re blurring the lines between his and comic book Mimic’s powers.  But whatever.  Makes for interesting visuals.

 

They had actually added that ability in season four. I recently saw one where he was actually using the abilities of those he copied to help fight. He didn’t seem to have that in any of his previous appearances and honestly I forgot about that until my rewatching started. I thought all he could do was to copy the looks 

[sh9000]

 

Looking forward to seeing more cameos in this show made through Morph and hoping that the actual characters show up.

Also looking forward to seeing Nightcrawler and Cable.

[Mog]

It does help that the little bastard can now be the cameo of the week.  

. . . And doesn’t force the writers to come up with a paper-thin excuse for other X-Men or mutants to show up in the story.

[Jeff J]

3 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'd definitely watch a season of Spider-Man '98 and season 2 of Wolverine and the X-Men if they were released.

Super duper nitpick here, but I'm still disappointed they titled the show '97 instead of '92 or something else. I guess it makes sense that they would name it after the year where it picked off. But typically, if one year had to be assigned to the show, it's the show's debut year, which is what DC Comics did with its Batman '66 comics or the TMNT 1987 moniker. 

I know I'm overthinking it, but when I think of Fox Kids's X-Men, the last year of its original run I want to think of is '97, when the production quality was at its worst and the show's relevance was at its nadir. I suppose '66 and '97 might've been picked for sounding better...

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Jeff J said:

I know I'm overthinking it, but when I think of Fox Kids's X-Men, the last year of its original run I want to think of is '97, when the production quality was at its worst and the show's relevance was at its nadir. I suppose '66 and '97 might've been picked for sounding better...

I haven’t gotten to the final season yet on my rewatch since season four is an extra long one compared to the past, but I will take a guess that the quality is probably far better than given credit here. I’ll find out for sure pretty soon though, but from what I can confirm is that the show started out like absolute garbage and the quality had gotten far better as the show went on and while I can’t see the quality getting worse, I may end up wrong. Even at it’s best the show is sub par compared to DC shows around the 90’s

As far as the title, it makes sense to differentiate the old episodes and new. And it helps to keep people from being confused. It takes place in 97, not 91 or 92 and definitely not 2024. Nobody started referring to Batman as Batman 89 until there were a billion reboots and disconnected appearances. When Keaton/Burton Batman came out, it was just Batman and the comics that connected to it used that 89 title to let you know which Batman they were talking about. And the Batman 66 title had a similar story. People for decades just referred to it as tv Batman or movie Batman

[Jeff J]

17 hours ago, Big s said:

I haven’t gotten to the final season yet on my rewatch since season four is an extra long one compared to the past, but I will take a guess that the quality is probably far better than given credit here. I’ll find out for sure pretty soon though, but from what I can confirm is that the show started out like absolute garbage and the quality had gotten far better as the show went on and while I can’t see the quality getting worse, I may end up wrong. Even at it’s best the show is sub par compared to DC shows around the 90’s

As far as the title, it makes sense to differentiate the old episodes and new. And it helps to keep people from being confused. It takes place in 97, not 91 or 92 and definitely not 2024. Nobody started referring to Batman as Batman 89 until there were a billion reboots and disconnected appearances. When Keaton/Burton Batman came out, it was just Batman and the comics that connected to it used that 89 title to let you know which Batman they were talking about. And the Batman 66 title had a similar story. People for decades just referred to it as tv Batman or movie Batman

I watched only some of S5, and the ones I watched had decent storytelling relative to the rest of the season*. It's just the look of the show went downhill when they changed animation studios. 

Reading some audience reviews of S5, apparently they have a lot of bottle episodes, too.

*Meant to say rest of the series, not season.

Edited March 28 by Jeff J

[Big s]

A little over the halfway mark now on season 4 and so far Wolverine still is an odd mix of badass and comic relief all in one character. One of the episodes, he got angry at Rogue for trying to comfort him when a child did something so unspeakably horrible that he started crying. He used a term I had never heard before as an insult to Rogue. He called her “Corn Pone”. I had no idea what that meant, but it made me laugh. I was a bit afraid to google it in fear of what might pop up. I was a bit disappointed to actually find out the meaning and kinda hoped it would be something more insulting 

[sh9000]

X-Men '97 Cast Interview.

 

[Mog]

So yeah, still feeling like this new series is lacking somehow, just as with the original series.

Like they’ll do an arc or story originally done in the comics, but it feels dumbed down or somehow lacks the same punch or oomph.

It’s obvious what story they were trying to tell in this ep, but it just doesn’t land.  Anyone with any knowledge about the comic book stories knows how the story is going to end.  But it’s just there; the story and characters aren’t somehow elevated.

This is definitely not on the level of Batman:  The Animated Series or Justice League.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Mog said:

Like they’ll do an arc or story originally done in the comics, but it feels dumbed down or somehow lacks the same punch or oomph.

That’s actually how I’ve always felt about the show. I never really had a high respect for it. I was reading the comics back in the 80’s and early 90’s and always felt like the comics were better than the show. But that also went for many other cartoons. The first few TMNT episodes were similar in telling dumbed down versions of the comics, but at least those episodes had a pretty good quality. The DC stuff had an odd art style and I never could wrap my head around when it was taking place, but the quality was really high in music, animation and voice acting. The best ones were the ones that weren’t kids shows like The Maxx and Spawn, but I kinda forgive the X Men because I understood that it was just a children’s show.

 Still think that instead of reviving a sub par cartoon to cash in on the X-Men that they should have gotten a brand new show with the higher quality animation, music and better voice talent. It’s Disney the supposed kings of animation, but they seem to have lost their way a long time ago. WB is the new American kings of quality when it comes to animation and comic adaptations. They may not all be perfect, but they’re usually pretty good. 

[sh9000]

Spoiler

Episode guide.

Looking forward to episode 4.

[Jeff J]

10 hours ago, Mog said:

So yeah, still feeling like this new series is lacking somehow, just as with the original series.

Like they’ll do an arc or story originally done in the comics, but it feels dumbed down or somehow lacks the same punch or oomph.

It’s obvious what story they were trying to tell in this ep, but it just doesn’t land.  Anyone with any knowledge about the comic book stories knows how the story is going to end.  But it’s just there; the story and characters aren’t somehow elevated.

This is definitely not on the level of Batman:  The Animated Series or Justice League.

Agreed. Watching episode 3 was like watching a 30-minute, condensed episode on YouTube that highlights on certain parts of a TV series.

8 hours ago, Big s said:

That’s actually how I’ve always felt about the show. I never really had a high respect for it. I was reading the comics back in the 80’s and early 90’s and always felt like the comics were better than the show. But that also went for many other cartoons. The first few TMNT episodes were similar in telling dumbed down versions of the comics, but at least those episodes had a pretty good quality. The DC stuff had an odd art style and I never could wrap my head around when it was taking place, but the quality was really high in music, animation and voice acting. The best ones were the ones that weren’t kids shows like The Maxx and Spawn, but I kinda forgive the X Men because I understood that it was just a children’s show.

 Still think that instead of reviving a sub par cartoon to cash in on the X-Men that they should have gotten a brand new show with the higher quality animation, music and better voice talent. It’s Disney the supposed kings of animation, but they seem to have lost their way a long time ago. WB is the new American kings of quality when it comes to animation and comic adaptations. They may not all be perfect, but they’re usually pretty good. 

I also am not really a big fan of the idea of resurrecting an old TV show, but one good thing is that we don't have to see another take on the Dark Phoenix Saga. For that reason alone I'm okay with (sort of) picking up where the original show left off. I just don't have faith that anyone can tell a new X-Men story for other media that didn't touch on Dark Phoenix, just like DC keeps going back to Doomsday and the Death of Superman.

[sh9000]

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/x-men-97-ratings-viewers-1235951732/amp/

Congrats.

[sh9000]

Episode 4 clip.

 

[Jeff J]

On 4/2/2024 at 10:10 PM, sh9000 said:

Episode 4 clip.

 

Spoiler

I was hoping to be welcomed to Die by the Master of Magnet... However, the nod to the Genesis X-Men game sort of makes up for it.

 

[sh9000]

I enjoyed episode 4.

[Big s]

Finally finished off the old episodes. It was Saturday morning and time for cartoons. The last season of the show for the most part was consistent with the previous couple seasons until the last three episodes. All the final season episodes did have the alternate intro that was only in a small handful before, but the last three episodes seemed like a different art team had taken over. The Cannonball episode was particularly weird looking. I get that it was Kentucky, but everyone was extra derpy. Even Rogue looked weird. The final episode looked like they tried to bring back the other artists and it ended up looking more like a mix of aesthetics. The music was extra bad in  the last few episodes as well. The final season also leaves off at an odd spot with the Professor heading to space and Magneto about to start World War Three. 
 

Overall, it’s a kids show and a very sanitized version of the story with animation that sometimes looks amazing, but usually disappoints. The voice acting is usually subpar, but you can tell that these amateur voice actors gradually become a bit more comfortable with their acting. Rogue had the most annoying voice and I probably mentioned it before, but it’s like nails on a chalkboard but does calm down and only sounds occasionally like a dying cat. Storm up till the last few episodes sounded like she had Down syndrome, but surprisingly the best voice was from one of my least favorite characters. Jubilee was somehow the only one that had a voice actor that didn’t seem to be overdoing it or falling asleep. She was really consistent from the beginning of the show to the very end. That wasn’t something I expected. Cyclops after maybe the first season or two had become far better in the voices and was pretty good as well, but the first few episodes needed a little work. Morph became far less annoying than he was in his first couple appearances. Xavier was kinda the William Shatner of the group.

After finishing that I did a rewatch of that Pryde of the X-Men pilot and I got a say that that was definitely the superior show. Everything from voices to music and animation were great and the only complaint I have is Australian Wolverine. I guess crocodile Dundee was popular back then and there really wasn’t a Canadian equivalent or something. Even Colosus had a great fight and for some reason he’s usually kind of a forgotten or ignored character until Deadpool. It also had a somewhat cheesy, yet catchy intro. Although the Japanese opening for the 90’s show is still the best by far although I’m not sure if that counts and why we should cry for the moon.

 

[Mog]

Expect more of the same from the new show.

I swear it’s like the Cliff’s Notes/abridged versions of better comic book stories.

[Big s]

15 minutes ago, Mog said:

Expect more of the same from the new show.

I swear it’s like the Cliff’s Notes/abridged versions of better comic book stories.

I don’t have high expectations for it. Was just outside shoveling snow for the last couple hours, now it’s time for a break and I’m gonna start the 97 episodes.

as an odd note it’s a warm sunny day in So Cal, yet there’s a bunch of snow from last night. My hand was hurting from the cold while wiping the snow off my windshield, yet I’m all hot and sweaty from the heat. It’s confusing and I need a little cartoon break since it’s still Saturday morning 

[Big s]

Watch the first of the 97 episodes and I still don’t like Rogues voice, at she’s not as screechy. She sounds more like an old lady. Wolverine also sounds like an elderly person, although he actually is technically. Cyclops seems to have learned some tricks since the old episodes that are kinda a mix between silly and extremely cool. Zipping around the floor looked silly, but his landing after the blackbird gets trashed was pretty epic. Morph seems to have lost his nose since the old episodes and Bishop sounds completely different. An odd one was Gyrich being in jail for a murder of someone that they all saw go to space and Magneto wanting to take what was given to him in a will from the same guy that he personally saw leaving and very much alive in the last episode of the original run.

still a few more available episodes to watch, but I gotta get back to shoveling snow on a hot spring day

[Big s]

Finished the available episodes of 97 and I think I hate Sunspot. I don’t remember liking him that much to begin with, but I really hate him here. Morph is far less annoying though. For the most part I like the show and it doesn’t feel like I have to force myself to watch it. I do think episode four was a total filler episode though and definitely the low point so far. I’m a little disappointed that the didn’t reset the system at the end of the first story in the episode.

[sh9000]

[Jeff J]

On 4/6/2024 at 1:26 PM, Mog said:

Expect more of the same from the new show.

I swear it’s like the Cliff’s Notes/abridged versions of better comic book stories.

Maybe the real issue is just that I'm 30 years older, but I feel like when the Fox Kids X-Men first aired, it was unapologetically for kids, like Baby's First X-Men stories. The release of X-Men 97 came with so much fanfare that comes with anything Marvel Studios releases that I kind of expected the show to be written with a bit more depth than what the actual product is.

Guess I just came in with unrealistic expectations.

BTW, I tend to prefer the Marvel and DC cartoons that are primarily targeted for kids. Maybe it's just a coincidence?

Edited April 8 by Jeff J

[sh9000]

Excellent episode 5.

[Big s]

On 4/8/2024 at 10:26 AM, Jeff J said:

Maybe the real issue is just that I'm 30 years older, but I feel like when the Fox Kids X-Men first aired, it was unapologetically for kids, like Baby's First X-Men stories. The release of X-Men 97 came with so much fanfare that comes with anything Marvel Studios releases that I kind of expected the show to be written with a bit more depth than what the actual product is.

Guess I just came in with unrealistic expectations.

I feel the same about the original episodes after my rewatch. But I was kinda expecting the hype to be from people that just remember the show being better than it was. As far as my expectations, I was on the opposite end and kinda expected a lot more of the same with more cringy moments. I haven’t seen today’s episode yet, but for the most part the show was far better than I expected.

There’s still some cringy moments like Cyclops scooting around the ground with his eyebeams or that whole jubilee in a video game episode and Goblin Queen going full Sailor Moon, but I’m liking far more than I thought I’d dislike. My biggest problem so far with this and the old episodes is that it does that Disney thing of expecting that you have prior knowledge of events that happened previously in other media. One minor example would be the whole thing about Morph’s face. Last we left off he just had emo shadows around his eyes. I hear there’s some story in the comics that explains things, but I stopped reading those years before Morph was actually in the comics. At that time he was a cartoon original like Harley Quin. If I remember correctly there was a similar character that showed up once in a while named Mimick or something, but I don’t really remember that character much either.

I just wish that if they had a cool story to tell, they’d do that in the show rather than expect you to pick up a thirty something year old comic to fill the gaps or worse, a recent Marvel comic