Report: X-Men ’97 A Smash-Hit For Disney+; More Older-Skewing Animation On The Way

Maybe the answer to Marvel’s MCU woes isn’t live-action at all, but rather adult animation?

Deadline is reporting that X-Men ’97 has debuted to 4 million views globally and is the biggest animated hit for Disney+ since Disney’s What If?, the latter of which kicks off with a third season later this year. X-Men ’97’s success comes despite controversy surrounding the show’s creator Beau DeMayo being fired and J.P. Karliak getting some heat for portraying a non-binary character.

There’s more to come from Marvel Animation as well including the TV-MA rated Marvel Zombies coming with Iman Vellani reprising her role as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. The series is by Bryan Andrews and written by Zeb Wells. In the world of X-Men ’97 we’re seeing reports that a visit from Spider-Man could be on tap in the future. Later this year we can also expect to see an Eyes of Wakanda animated series from Todd Harris and produced by Ryan Coogler.

“X-Men’97” revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future. The voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo serves as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Featuring music by The Newton Brothers, the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.

Read our review of the first two episodes here.