The word is out, andX-Men ‘97is a runaway success. The animated series, a continuation ofthe iconic 1990s showX-Men: The Animated Series, managed to live up to the hype.The show has quickly become one of Marvel’s most buzzed about seriesin recent memory.X-Men ‘97not only succeeds as an exceptional adaptation of the comic book adventures of Marvel’s merry band of mutants, but the show alsofeatures Easter eggs, cameos, and references to various other charactersand stories from across the Marvel Universe.
The first season ofX-Men ‘97evenfeatures appearances of characters from another popular 1990s Marvel animated seriesthat aired on Fox Kids alongsideX-Men: The Animated Series—Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Of course, seeing Spider-Man and other characters from his popular ’90s series appear inX-Men ‘97ignited fan discussion across social media, which raises the question: Why not follow upX-Men ‘97with a continuation of the 1990sSpider-Manseries? Fans are already speculating on a prospective name —Spider-Man ‘98!
A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
‘Spider-Man: The Animated Series’ Laid the Groundwork for a Marvel Cinematic Universe
The wave of comic book movies that began in the 2000s withX-Men,Spider-Man, and more would not have been possible without the success ofX-Men: The AnimatedSeries in the 1990s. However,Spider-Mantook things a step further thanX-Men. Spidey’s show brought together disparate groups of characters from totally different series that were airing at the same time. Essentially,Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesand showrunnerJohn Semperproved that creatinga cohesive animated universewas possible, by combining elements from different shows and using the same characters and actors. This brought forth the 1990s Marvel Animated Universe, featuring multiple shows running across separate networks years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born.X-Men: The Animated Serieswas like a proof of concept for bringing Marvel’s comic book heroes to life in a motion picture format. ButSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesdemonstrated that characters from separate character families can work and exist togetheronscreen!
TheSpider-ManSeason 2 storyline, “Neogenic Nightmare,” led to a two-part crossover withX-Men: The Animated Seriesin the episodes, “The Mutant Agenda” and “Mutants Revenge.” These episodes saw Spider-Man meet and interact with the cast ofX-Men: The Animated Series. Moreover, the groundbreaking, revolutionaryanimated superhero crossoverbrought all the voice actors fromX-Men: The Animated Seriesto reprise their respective roles. Later on,Spider-Mancrossed over with another ’90s Marvel Animated series,Iron Man. Iron Man was voiced byRobert Hays, in theIron Mananimated show that ran in syndication from 1994-1996 and appeared in multiple episodes ofSpider-Man. Iron Man’s show was not even airing on Fox Kids at the time, likeSpider-ManandX-Men. It was truly an epic era for Marvel fans to see various characters from separate shows interacting together onscreen.
What got the ball rolling on theSpider-Man ‘98talk was the Wallcrawler’s cameo appearance in theX-Men ‘97Season 1 episode,“Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1,” showing Spider-Man in his full glory. While Spider-Man didn’t speak in the episode, he appeared in full view, evoking a visual update of his 1990s animated appearance. Spider-Man previously made only one partial cameo appearance inX-Men: The Animated Seriesduring “The Phoenix Saga.” However,this was not Spidey’s only appearance inX-Men ‘97. In the season finale,“Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 3,“Spider-Man is featured again, this time out of costume as his Peter Parker alter-ego, and he’s with none other than his beloved Mary Jane Watson. They’re wearing the same outfits they wore through much of theSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesrun in the 1990s.Showing Peter with Mary Janefinally ties off a loose plot thread that was left unresolved by the ’90s Spidey series.
Spidey’s showended with Madame Webtaking Spider-Man to reunite with his long-lost girlfriend, Mary Jane. Previously, Mary Jane was lost in an interdimensional void during a fight with the Green Goblin. Peter was seemingly reunited with Mary Jane later, but this turned out to be a Hydro-Man-based clone of MJ created by Miles Warren, and she eventually disintegrated. While the show ended under the impression that Peter might soon reunite with Mary Jane, fans never actually got to see it happen.X-Men ‘97showed that Peter did eventually reunite with Mary Jane, and they were together as the chaos of the season finale unfolded across the globe.
Speaking to ScreenRantabout the jaw-dropping reveal, Marvel Studios Head of TV and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, confirmed the Peter and Mary Jane reunion, saying, “It is amazing to see them back on screen together. I wish we could tell that whole adventure with Madame Web and figure out how exactly he did it!” He went a bit further, perhaps suggesting that fans could one day see this adventure unfold onscreen, “Maybe one day, we as fanboys could certainly dream.” One thing is certain:The cameo appearances inX-Men ‘97will only intensify those dreams.
Marvel Only Wanted Two Things from ‘X-Men ‘97’ and Neither Involved the MCU
And they’re probably not what you’d expect.
Potential Roadblocks for a Hypothetical ‘Spider-Man ‘98’
Looking ahead to a hypotheticalSpider-Man ‘98, one potential roadblock is that Marvel Animation is currently focused on rolling out a differentSpider-Mananimated series,Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It was originally announced in 2021 asa prequel seriestoSpider-Man: Homecoming, titledSpider-Man: Freshman Yearand was to depict how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in the MCU. That premise has since changed, withthe show no longer strictly adhering to the MCU canon, and it will now unfold withinan alternate reality of the MCU.The series will feature Peter Parker in his freshman year of high schoolas he begins his journey as Spider-Man. It’s unlikely that Marvel Animation will look into developingSpider-Man ‘98untilYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manis released and runs its course. By that time, momentum for a potentialSpider-Man ‘98continuation could wane.
Based on Marvel Studios’ TV rights, creating aSpider-Man ‘98series appears legally viable. Asreported by Deadline, Sony Pictures controls the live-action rights to Spider-Man and about 900 Marvel characters. In 2009, Marvel Studios regainedthe animated television rightsto Spider-Man, stipulating that the character can be used inany animated TV series with episodes less than 44 minutes in length. In the past 15 years, Marvel Animation has produced several new animatedSpider-ManTV programs, so it’s unlikely there will be any copyright or legal issues regarding the Sony Pictures deal. The 1994 animated series was produced by Marvel Entertainment and Saban Entertainment years before Sony became involved in theSpider-Manfranchise, in contrast toThe Spectacular Spider-Mananimated series, which was produced and is still owned by Sony Pictures Television. However, the music rights might prove to be a cause for concern.
Of course,X-Men ‘97brought back the iconic opening theme song from the classic 1990s animated series. However,Marvel Studios had to jump through many hoops to secure the music rights from the original series, so that the iconic theme could still be used inX-Men ‘97. The theme music forX-Men: The Animated Series, created byRonald Wasserman,Haim Saban, andShuki Levy, was allegedly plagiarized from a 1980s Hungarian show calledLinda, leading to a lawsuit.The lawsuit was later settled, and Marvel Studios obtained the rights to use the music in the show.
Haim Saban also composed the theme song for the 1990s Spider-Man show, but it was performed by guitaristJoe Perry. If there were many legal issues Marvel had to untangle, so the show could havetheX-Menanimated theme musicinX-Men ‘97,Marvel Studios might not be up for another complicated legal process just to enableSpider-Man ‘98. That said, if Marvel Animation were to move forth with an animated update ofSpider-Man, it would be imperative to retain the classic music and opening theme song.
Currently, the only animatedSpider-Manshow in the works at Marvel Animation isYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which will debut on Disney+ at a later date. While Brad Winderbaum seems open to the idea of a 1990s Spidey revival,it only exists as a fun idea for now. However, Spidey’s appearances inX-Men ‘97certainly prove that fans and audiences are eager for more of that version of the Web-head to make a comeback.
For now, fans can check out the original and complete run ofSpider-Man: The Animated Series, along withX-Men: The Animated SeriesandX-Men ‘97, on Disney+ in the U.S.
