X-Men ’97

Our Review

The impossible sequel that shouldn’t exist and is somehow essential. Picking up exactly where the beloved ’90s series left off — no reboot, no reimagining — X-Men ’97 opens with the team scattered after Professor X’s departure and builds to the most emotionally devastating run of episodes Marvel animation has ever produced. The Tolerance Is Extinction three-parter goes places network cartoons never dared in 1997.

What makes it work: it treats the original’s earnestness as a feature. The soap-opera plotting (Magneto’s leadership, Rogue’s impossible choice, the Cyclops-Jean-Maddie triangle) is played straight, and the animation upgrade keeps the retro designs while making the action genuinely spectacular. This is the show that proved nostalgia could be a launchpad instead of a cage.

Verdict: Watch it. To me, my X-Men.