X-Men '97 is going to be Disney's must-watch show of Spring 2024!

When X-Men: The Animated series ended 30 years ago, we never expected the series would return with new episodes but that all changed when Disney+ decided to bet big on the X-Men classic and order a revival series: X-Men '97.

In this new original series coming to Disney+ on March 20, fans will be able to revisit the iconic 90s cult classic as our favorite X-Men heroes and villains make their way back to our screens. The series promises to once again follow the X-Men as they use their unique gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them. New and familiar threats await them in the upcoming series which is sure to be among the most-talked-about shows of Spring 2024!

X-Men '97 kicks off March 20 and the trailer is epic!

One day after Marvel announced the new Fantastic Four cast, they surprised fans with the first official trailer for X-Men '97 while announcing the first season would premiere on March 20, 2024.

The trailer begins with a look back at the original series and the moment that fans thought was the end for the heroes before jumping into the present day where things are far from going easy for the group. Mutant hate remains at an all-time high, but the group of heroes remains dedicated to upholding Professor X's dream in his absence. Doing so gets a whole lot more difficult as it seems Xavier left everything to Magneto which is sure to ruffle feathers among the heroes.

Check out the first look at the season below and prepare for a dose of nostalgia as the theme song is weaved into the promo's key moments:

The X-Men '97 cast is full of both new and returning voice actors

As this is a revival, Marvel Studios is honoring the original cast by bringing most of the key players from the original series back for X-Men '97. However, that doesn't mean everyone returning will be reprising the roles they once voiced in the original series, in fact, there have been a number of recasts made to the voice cast.

Let's start with the original voice actors who will be reprising their roles from X-Men: The Animated Series in X-Men '97! Fans can expect to see a number of beloved and iconic characters once again voiced by the stars responsible for bringing the characters to life in the original show including Cal Dodd (Wolverine/Logan), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm/Ororo Munroe), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast/Henry “Hank” McCoy), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner), and Chris Britton (Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex).

The new season will also be bringing back several other original voice actors from X-Men: The Animated Series, just in new roles. Catherine Disher (Jean Grey) will now be voicing Dr. Valerie Cooper; Chris Potter (Gambit) will now be voicing Cable/Nathan Summers; Lawrence Bayne (Cable) will now be voicing Carl Dentil/X-Cutioner; Alyson Court (Jubilee) will now be playing Abscissa; and Ron Rubin (Morph) will now be playing President Robert Edward Kelly.

Finally, the show will be injecting a wave of new talent to the ensemble with Ray Chase (Cyclops/Scott Summer), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), AJ LoCascio (Gambit/Remy LeBeau), Holly Chou (Jubilee/Jubilation Lee), JP Karliak (Morph), Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop/Lucan Bishop), Matthew Waterson (Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr), Ross Marquand (Professor Charles Xavier), Gui Augustini (Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa), Gil Birmingham (Forge/Daniel Lone Eagle), and Eric Bauza (Sentinels) joining the cast.

Theo James has also joined the cast in a yet-to-be-revealed role, but showrunner Beau DeMayo has revealed to Entertainment Weekly that James will be playing a fan-favorite character that "will surprise people."

X-Men '97 voice cast

Now that we've broken the cast down, here's a quick recap of the actors set to voice the key players in the upcoming series!

• Abscissa: Voiced by Alyson Court
• Beast: Voiced by George Buza
• Bishop: Voiced by Isaac Robinson-Smith
• Cable: Voiced by Chris Potter
• Cyclops: Voiced by Ray Chase
• Dr. Valerie Cooper: Voiced by Catherine Disher
• Forge: Voiced by Gil Birmingham
• Gambit: Voiced by AJ LoCascio
• Jean Grey: Voiced by Jennifer Hale
• Jubilee: Voiced by Holly Chou
• Magneto: Voiced by Matthew Waterson
• Mister Sinister: Voiced by Chris Britton
• Morph: Voiced by JP Karliak
• Nightcrawler: Voiced by Adrian Hough
• President Robert Edward Kelly: Voiced by Ron Rubin
• Professional Xavier: Voiced by Ross Marquand 
• Rogue: Voiced by Lenore Zann
• Sentinels: Voiced by Eric Bauza
• Storm: Voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith
• Sunspot: Voiced by Gui Augustini
• Wolverine: Voiced by Cal Dodd
• X-Cutioner: Voiced by Lawrence Bayne
• ** Theo James is also part of the voice cast in an unknown role

The X-Men '97 poster is a nostalgic throwback

The first debut poster for X-Men '97 was a throwback that took us back to the 90s and we absolutely love it! The poster features the logo for the show across a series of VHS tapes with the show's core heroes featured prominently at the top of the VHS boxes. As 90s kids will recall, VHS box art such as this was a common trend back in the day and it's fun seeing Disney lean into that nostalgia with the poster for season 1!

There are several villains expected to apear in X-Men '97

Of course, we know the Sentinels, Mister Sinister, and X-Cutioner, as well as Magneto, will be making appearances as villains within the first season of the show, but there are a few additional villains who are expected to appear in the series.

As confirmed by a line of Funko Pop! figures coming to Target, we should also be seeing Spiral, Sauron, and Mojo all making appearances in the show in some form. We don't know how large or small a role they might play but the fact that they're getting figures in the X-Men '97 line seems to hint that we'll be getting notable appearances from the characters. And there is a chance we could see additional villains making appearances across the season as well.

X-Men: The Animated Series ending explained

X-Men '97 is set to pick up after the events of X-Men: The Animated Series which came to a close back in 1997 following its five-season run. In the series finale, "Graduation Day," Professor X fell gravely ill forcing the X-Men to turn to Magneto for help in saving his life. While Magneto was able to help bide his friend more time, Xavier ended the show by traveling with Lilandra to recover in the Shi'ar Empire, leaving his team of X-Men behind in a world that wanted nothing more than to wipe them from existence.

X-Men '97 season 1 will be 10 episodes

The first season of Marvel's X-Men: The Animated Series revival will consist of ten episodes total which makes the show longer than most Marvel Studios Disney+ original series. The plan seems to be for new episodes to be released weekly which makes sense given the scripted nature of the series which will see storylines running through the season similar to how storylines did in the original series.

We don't yet know how long the episodes will be, but we're expecting the episodes will be similar in length to episodes of What If...? which tend to be roughly 30 minutes.

X-Men '97 season 2 has already been ordered

Marvel doesn't typically announce early renewals, but it does make the occasional exception and X-Men '97 was one of them. A second season of X-Men '97 has already been announced and it's expected we'll see the second season arrive sometime in 2025 as the adventures continue.

Given the fact that we know a second season is coming, it'll be interesting to see if the first season ends with a cliffhanger as X-Men: The Animated Series was known for being ahead of its time with scripted storylines that carried over across the season rather than one-off episodes that never kept a constant plot.