The MCU nearly had the X-Men sooner than expected, as it has been revealed that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige almost made X-Men ’97 MCU canon.

X-Men ’97 was considered to become canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at one point. The Disney+ show continues the adventures of the mutant team a year after the events of the final episode of the original X-Men: The Animated Series. With each passing episode, more praise comes out for X-Men ’97‘s story and characters, with the project being heavily praised as one of the best Marvel Studios offerings in recent years. Now, it turns out the series could have had even deeper ties to Marvel.

Speaking to Inverse, X-Men ’97 director Emi Yonemura revealed that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige went back and forth between the animated series being MCU canon or not. While the move was considered by Marvel, Yonemura believes it was for the best that X-Men ’97 was allowed to be its own thing, just like the original X-Men: The Animated Series. X-Men ’97 has done some characters better than the movies, and the reason for that comes from the show’s creative freedom. Check out the full quote below:

“That has always been something we know was on Kevin Feige’s mind, do we make this part of the MCU? Do we not make this part of the MCU? It’s actually gone back and forth quite a few times, and I think we did land in a smart place because [ X-Men: The Animated Series ] was its own thing, and I think that to continue it we needed to be our own thing.”

Why X-Men ‘97 Not Being MCU Canon Was For The Best

The MCU’s X-Men Do Not Need Any Baggage

While it would have been cool to get started on the MCU’s X-Men so soon, it is for the best that X-Men ’97 is its own thing. Some of the show’s most impactful decisions come from the fact that the team behind the animated series had full creative freedom. For instance, Magneto and Gambit’s deaths would have blocked those characters from being used in MCU movies or would have required some new explanations for how the characters were alive again, confusing fans who did not watch the series.

As X-Men ’97 is a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, MCU fans would almost be required to watch the original’s five seasons plus X-Men ’97 to be up-to-date on the characters. Ultimately, that kind of baggage would only hurt the MCU’s X-Men. The reboot of the franchise under Marvel Studios needs to start fresh. Marvel has already tapped into X-Men nostalgia in live-action by using returning characters from Fox’s X-Men franchise in multiple projects, with the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine being the biggest use of that tactic yet.

While Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is likely to remain in the MCU for the X-Men reboot, the mutants need a fresh start. The X-Men are rich characters who have a wide breadth of stories yet to be told in live-action. After Fox’s X-Men movies turned sour towards the end, there is a lot riding on how the MCU adapts the X-Men. Given X-Men ’97 and X-Men: The Animated Series already did versions of some of the team’s biggest comic book stories, tying the project to the MCU would limit what Marvel could do with the X-Men.