X-Men: The Animated Series technically was never canceled (but here's why it ended)

A few comic book cartoons helped create the comic book animated genre we currently have. Among them are Batman the Animated Series, Justice League, and X-Men: The Animated Series. The latter gave kids adult content in a way that could be easily understood. It’s only one of the many reasons X-Men: The Animated Series lasted five seasons and went on for 76 episodes. It's also why the kids who are now adults were pumped for X-Men '97.

When Marvel announced that X-Men ‘97 was debuting, people wondered if this was a new show. People were excited when the reports came that this was a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series. We’d finally get answers to questions we had. Did Charles Xavier survive after the final episode? Would Morph remain on the X-Men? What was next for Jean Grey and Cyclops? Thankfully, Beau DeMayo and the rest of the creative team gave us answers to those queries and then some.

All of that is great, but one question that wasn’t answered. What happened to the original X-Men: The Animated Series and why was it canceled? Technically, it wasn’t canceled.

What happened to X-Men: The Animated Series

Screen Rant reported the unfortunate things that caused the eventual downfall of X-Men: The Animated Series. One of the most interesting reasons was the show wasn’t scheduled to go as long as it did. The final episodes were supposed to be the four-parter “Beyond Good and Evil”. A series that ended with the destruction of Apocalypse (which we now know didn't happen) and Cable returning to the future. However, this is a situation where more isn’t always better.

Showrunner Eric Lewald said, "Some of the quality controls were lifted [in season 5]. The budgets went down. They were cranked down." Screen Rant also noted that the reason the quality of the animation went down due to the show being produced in a cheaper animation studio. All of this leads to X-Men: The Animated Series not being canceled, but stopped."

This is why the final season looked as poor as it did. Ending after "Beyond Good and Evil" concluded would have been the right play. Instead, fans were left with the horrible memory of badly drawn X-Men and an awful interpretation of a story told by Kitty Pryde (Uncanny X-Men No. 153) that was retold by Jubilee (“Jubilee's Fairy Tale Theatre”).

The show’s artist and producer Will Meugniot said, “What I think people don't understand is X-Men wasn't canceled. It had actually been scheduled to be 65 episodes and had been extended past the original order. When it was done, it was like 'Well, contract fulfilled. We did it.”

No matter how bad the final season was, we can ignore it. Most of the bad that happened there is outshined by the greatness of X-Men ‘97. However, there’s a lesson that can be learned from this.

When a project has reached its limit, it’s okay to let it go. X-Men: The Animated Series isn’t the first project to go on longer than it should have. Take notes from shows like The Good Place, Breaking Bad, and The Boys. When it’s time to end your project, ride off into the sunset with your head held high. In other words, die a hero, or live long enough to be the series finale of Dexter.