X-Men 97 Promo Art Reveals New 16-Bit Episode Character Designs

Highlights

X-Men ’97, a revival of the iconic X-Men animated series, will bring back the mutants and delight fans of the original show.
The upcoming episode of X-Men ’97 titled “Montendo!” will reportedly feature 16-bit video game-style animation, trapping Jubilee and Sunspot in a video game.
The promotional material for X-Men ’97, including the 16-bit artwork, has been well-received by fans, who are excited for the show’s release on Disney Plus in 2024.

New X-Men ’97 photos provide a sneak peek at one of the upcoming revival’s more unique episodes that fans of the original series will find delightful for more than one reason.

While the lack of access to the X-Men would be the driving force behind the Avengers taking center stage in the MCU, the Disney/Fox merger would bring the mutants back within Kevin Feige’s grasp, and plans for the integration of the X-Men would begin, much to the delight of fans. While there’s no graceful way for mutants to join the MCU, one way that Marvel Studios has decided to bring the mutant team back to the forefront materialized as X-Men ’97, a revival of the iconic X-Men animated series that was canceled in 1997.

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As the release of the revival show’s first season draws near, fans have been treated to a few teaser visuals from the show’s artists, including photos of the main X-Men ’97 cast in the new show’s updated art style. More recently, fans got a treat from X-Men ’97 promo art (via CanWeGetSomeToast), showing off special images from an episode of the upcoming series. The images show Magneto and the main roster of X-Men from the show drawn in the recognizable 16-bit style familiar to fans who grew up with the original series and the more simple video games of the era. While Magneto gets to pose in all his villainy in a cover art-style panel in the first image, the second features 8 of the X-Men sharing the screen in a character select-style spread.

The caption on the post specifies that the visuals are from an episode of the upcoming series titled “Montendo!” It goes on to offer a brief synopsis, which reads, “Jubilee and her boyfriend, Sunspot, get trapped in a 16-bit video game by Mojo on her birthday. Parts of the episode will be animated in a 16-bit video game style.” The title is an obvious nod to Nintendo’s development of many memorable 16-bit games of the era fused with the name of the X-Men villain Mojo, who is the antagonist of the episode mentioned in the synopsis. Fans reacted positively to the promo art in the comments, with many lauding the choice to bring back the iconic animated series within the reach of new fans brought in by the MCU.

With the X-Men ’97 release date allegedly closer than fans expected, it makes sense that the team behind the upcoming series would release more promotional material to get people talking and anticipating the show’s release. While the appeal of a 16-bit styled episode is obvious to the return crowd, the draw isn’t lost on newer fans, as a lot of indie games and niche projects have also used the style in more recent years, including the Scott Pilgrim video game, carrying on the heavy retro video game influence seen in the graphic novels and film. While the first season of X-Men ’97 is set to be only ten episodes long, the team behind it has certainly put a lot of effort into crafting something that fans will love and that will endear viewers to the second season already in production.

The 16-bit video game-inspired art certainly gets the gears turning amongst fans of all the things Marvel can do with Mutants in the MCU, as the family of characters and their villains and allies possess amazing powers and encompass some of the most complex and fantastical arcs in comics. How well Marvel Studios does at capturing all that potential in X-Men ’97 and the inevitable big-budget MCU film remains to be seen.

X-Men ‘97 is set to release on Disney Plus in 2024.

MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a sprawling movie and television franchise that weaves together individual stories of superheroes, including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and many more. The first film in the franchise, Iron Man, was released in 2008. The MCU has garnered critical praise and financial success, earning billions at the box office and becoming a cultural phenomenon.

First Film: Iron Man
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