Marvel's X-Men '97 Creator Confirms Villain for New Season

By Spencer Perry

The upcoming animated series X-Men '97 might be one of the most ambitious projects ever made by Marvel Studios. This new series, which is set to premiere on Disney+ later this year, actually acts as a continuation of the classic X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s. Not only will the show finally return this year but it's bringing back the entire voice cast, and also some notable villains. Speaking during the recent live virtual event X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years, series writer Beau DeMayo that Mister Sinister will once again torment the titular children of the atom.

DeMayo said (H/T The Direct), "A very, very, very, very favorite character of mine and many others, Mr. Sinister, will rear his ugly head from the past with a pretty foolproof plan to destroy the X-Men once and for all." Christopher Britton will once again voice the villain in the series, having previously appeared as the character in several episodes of its original run. The previously released synopsis for the new series, which reads: ""Storm and Wolverine try to continue the X-Men. Magneto comes in and wants to step up for Charles Xavier. Sinister comes in to try to end the X-Men once and for all."

Confirmed cast members for X-Men '97 includes  Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Chris Potter as Gambit, Catherine Disher as Jean Grey/Phoenix, and Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler). Other fan-favorite X-Men characters confirmed to appear in the series also include Cable, Bishop, Sunspot, Morph and Forge.

"As an animated show, the original X-Men was the forerunner to some amazing action series," Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, VP of Animation at Marvel Studios previously said. "Everyone that is making X-Men '97, top-down, is a fan. On this project, instinctually, we knew exactly what this is. To bring this series forward and pick up that baton, and not just keep running at the same pace, but to really elevate. That's the responsibility."

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DeMayo will serve as the head writer and executive producer of X-Men '97. Jake Castorena had come aboard as supervising director and Charley Feldman is attached as the supervising producer. Original X-Men: The Animated Series producers and showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald and director Larry Houston are set to consulting on the new series. 

X-Men '97 will begin streaming exclusively on Disney+ in fall 2023.

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