Discussion
Can't see this mentioned on here so far. I kind of just missed the original TV show as I was about 11/12 when it started and just a bit too old for it I think although I do remember watching it in the afternoon from time to time.
Anyway, the new series started on Disney+ and I have to say, it's brilliant. First of all, the intro has been completely redone but it's the same as the original with the awesome theme song intact but slightly amped up. It looks great, sounds amazing and based off the first two eps it has some of the best X-Men action I've seen. They've nailed the team dynamic, the voice performances are all on point. It's a great show and I honestly wasn't that excited for it.
Anyway, the new series started on Disney+ and I have to say, it's brilliant. First of all, the intro has been completely redone but it's the same as the original with the awesome theme song intact but slightly amped up. It looks great, sounds amazing and based off the first two eps it has some of the best X-Men action I've seen. They've nailed the team dynamic, the voice performances are all on point. It's a great show and I honestly wasn't that excited for it.
Not sure how many are still watching this but I've just seen ep5. Incredible episode, up there with the best animated stuff I've seen and certainly one of the best things with the X Men in full stop. Still another 6 eps to go and I can't believe how they keep knocking it out of the park with this series episode after episode.
SpudLink said:
For context: I was reading X-Men comics religiously from the late ‘70s to late ‘80s. After which I dropped in and out, buying the occasional collection of issues. When the ‘90s cartoon came along I wasn’t interested, but gave it a try a few years after. Thought the voice acting made it unwatchable. Also tried DC’s Justice League cartoons a few years after they were made, and they were vastly superior in terms of acting and animation.
So I went into the new reboot/continuation out if curiosity, thinking I’d give it an episode or two.
Ep 1: Meh. Animation in the same style, but vastly improved. Voice acting is similar, but somehow much better. ‘For fans of the old show.’
Ep 2: This is better.
Ep 3: I think this might actually be quite good.
Ep 4: First half made me think ‘This is wasting minutes of my life’. 2nd half was getting back on form.
Ep 5: Oh wow! Fantastic work. It’s like the previous episodes were just the warmup.
It’s good. Far better than I would have expected.
However, I don’t think it’s on par with Invincible, which I reckon is far better than most live action superhero live action films out TV.
Looking forward to where they go from here.
Invincible is incredible don't get me wrong, but this has done a hell of a lot in just 5 episodes (that are half the runtime of Invincible remember). Not even the biggest episodes of the series either which after 5 I'm pretty shocked by. Apparently 8-10 are massive.So I went into the new reboot/continuation out if curiosity, thinking I’d give it an episode or two.
Ep 1: Meh. Animation in the same style, but vastly improved. Voice acting is similar, but somehow much better. ‘For fans of the old show.’
Ep 2: This is better.
Ep 3: I think this might actually be quite good.
Ep 4: First half made me think ‘This is wasting minutes of my life’. 2nd half was getting back on form.
Ep 5: Oh wow! Fantastic work. It’s like the previous episodes were just the warmup.
It’s good. Far better than I would have expected.
However, I don’t think it’s on par with Invincible, which I reckon is far better than most live action superhero live action films out TV.
Looking forward to where they go from here.
ThomW said:
I can see the showrunner is trying to put his stamp on the genre with Ep5 - that's a pretty bold move killing off ttwo main characters. Though I'm going to assume Magneto won't stay dead, he was resurrected by the Morlocks in the comics, so that may happen.
The showrunner was sacked just before the show aired (nothing to do with the show, issues outside it). He mentioned that when he first pitched the idea of bringing the show back in 2018 (I think), he pitched episode 5. He's described the arc as a bit pre/post 9/11 in terms of Ep 5 and how the season plays out. SpudLink said:
C5_Steve said:
ThomW said:
I can see the showrunner is trying to put his stamp on the genre with Ep5 - that's a pretty bold move killing off ttwo main characters. Though I'm going to assume Magneto won't stay dead, he was resurrected by the Morlocks in the comics, so that may happen.
The showrunner was sacked just before the show aired (nothing to do with the show, issues outside it). He mentioned that when he first pitched the idea of bringing the show back in 2018 (I think), he pitched episode 5. He's described the arc as a bit pre/post 9/11 in terms of Ep 5 and how the season plays out. It's the world of superheroes, so when the time comes there are dozens of ways for the writers to easily bring characters back, or undo the whole thing with time travel. But until then, they have the potential to give us a story as good as anything we've seen from Marvel.
SpudLink said:
Wow! Episodes 8!
This show really is very good.
Yep, it's SO good no? I did think I was going to get a bit lost going into 8 as it called back to a character from the original show but they do such a good job with exposition in this series that it was perfect. This show really is very good.
There was a lot to keep up with in 8, I'll need to rewatch it I think. I really, really want them to bring the showrunner back to do the movie. He's absolutely nailing not only the overall story arc but also each and every character. Perfectly balancing them so they all get their moment.
SpudLink said:
For decades American animation was viewed as being 'for children', and so the writing was suitably dumbed down. The big themes of the X-Men comics written by Chris Claremont were lost when the stories were adapted for the '90s cartoon.
X-Men '97 shows how good animated superhero stories can be if the studios respect the audience.
Edit: My favorite line was actually a small reference to the first live action film when Cyclops said to Wolverine "What did you expect, yellow spandex?". Here he turns it on his head with "What did you expect, black leather?"
Bang on, 97 has crammed in so much in terms of both themes and lore that I think it just shows what can be done with great writing and a clear vision for the entire run and beyond. X-Men '97 shows how good animated superhero stories can be if the studios respect the audience.
Edit: My favorite line was actually a small reference to the first live action film when Cyclops said to Wolverine "What did you expect, yellow spandex?". Here he turns it on his head with "What did you expect, black leather?"
Edited by SpudLink on Thursday 9th May 08:13
I though Ep 9 was brilliant, so many tiny details and the ending, just when I thought the ep was done bam!
We are in for a treat next week.
The showrunner has been live tweeting each episode as it airs on twitter (prob not great to follow him as it airs a day early in the US!) but he's also shared episodes to watch in advance of the next ones if you want to do a bit of "homework". For next weeks one he suggested watching the Star Trek Next Gen episode "Cause and Effect". Very interesting........
The whole show will need a rewatch after it's aired as they've been hiding stuff in each episode, apparently, Bastian was in every episode before he was revealed. Also, the new Prime Sentinals were featured in a the intro in previous opening as well.
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