Exclusive: X-Men ’97 producer and Marvel Studios executive teases that the new Marvel animated series will crossover with other shows from the 90s.
The new X-Men ’97 series will potentially have crossovers with other beloved Marvel animated shows from the 90s. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still working on its X-Men reboot, the mutants are coming back into the world of animation. Serving as a sequel to the X-Men: The Animated Series show, X-Men ’97 will continue the story of the mutants who conquered the small screen in the 1990s for several years.
During Screen Rant’s exclusive interview with Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum – while promoting the arrival of the X-Men ’97 TV show on Disney+ this week – was asked about potential crossovers with other 90s Marvel shows. After it was noted that X-Men: The Animated Series”was a bigger part of a shared universe with Marvel animated TV shows during that era,” and thus that X-Men ’97 could follow suit, Winderbaum said the following:
Brad Winderbaum: X-Men ’97 fits directly into the continuity of the 90s animated shows, and as you know, there were some awesome crossovers, most notably with Spider Man[: The Animated Series.] I will say that if you remember the awesome cameos from the original show, you’re going to be happy in X-Men ’97, without going into spoiler territory. [laughs] It’s an exciting timeline to explore that ’90s world!
X-Men ’97 Has The Potential To Setup A New Spinoff
As X-Men ’97 season 2 is already confirmed to happen on Disney+, the series revival is also allowing the door to open for other Marvel animated shows that are based in the same continuity. One of them is Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which had crossovers with X-Men: The Animated Series back in the 90s. Even in the X-Men ’97 trailer, the show highlighted the web-crawler’s established existence in this universe, as a Spider-Man headline was spotted on The Daily Bugle.
With Spider-Man: The Animated Series continuing to be one of best animated properties for Peter Parker, X-Men ’97 already has the perfect potential spinoff, in the form of Spider-Man ’98. While Spider-Man: The Animated Series ran for five seasons, the series finale ended with numerous unresolved plot points that could be addressed in a sequel show. If it doesn’t happen this season, X-Men ’97 season 2 could plant a backdoor pilot for a Spider-Man show follow-up and reestablish where this version of Peter is today.
Time will tell if Spider-Man appears in X-Men ’97 season 1, but given Winderbaum’s tease, it definitely seems likely. If this could also lead to a Spider-Man show reboot, the creator of Spider-Man: The Animated Series has already addressed his interest in it. Hopefully, in one way or another, X-Men ’97 will be able to do something with this world’s Spider-Man in some capacity.
Catch the first two episodes of X-Men ’97 on Wednesday, March 20, exclusively on Disney+.