Marvel’s X-Men ’97 Producer Teases Possible Spider-Man Crossover and Cameos: “The Potential Is Always There”

In the ’90s, X-Men: The Animated Series featured a menagerie of mutants from more than 30 years of Marvel’s X-Men comics. Over its 76-episode run spanning five seasons, X-Men managed to include such fan-favorite characters as Cable, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Psylocke, who periodically appeared alongside the likes of series regulars Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, and more. There were more Marvel cameos — Spider-Man, Captain America, Carol Danvers, and Deadpool all made appearances, however brief — and crossovers with episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. 

With the 1990s back in vogue in X-Men ’97 — Marvel Animation’s decades-later revival picking up where X-Men: The Animated Series left off — could the two shows ever come together? Spider-Man ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger: with Madame Web (Joan Lee) taking Peter Parker (Christopher Daniel Barnes) into the multiverse to reunite with his long-lost love, Mary Jane Watson (Saratoga Ballantine).

Here’s what Brad Winderbaum, X-Men ’97 executive producer and head of streaming, television and animation for Marvel Studios, told Men’s Health when asked about a potential Spider-Man crossover:

“Wehave a great executive who works for us named Drew River, who managesthe continuity of the timeline. And obviously that becomes more complexas you enter the multiverse saga and tracking multiple timelines. X-Men ’97fits into that ’90s timeline, along with the OG series, as well asthose concurrent ’90s shows that would sometimes cross over with theX-Men. The potential is always there. Without going into spoiler territory, the original show does have a lot of fun cameos, and ’97 carries that torch.” 

X-Men: The Animated Series existed alongside such ’90s cartoons as Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk, and a four-show crossover brought Spider-Man, Storm, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four together in the three-part “Secret Wars” arc on Spider-Man.

Previously on X-Men… X-Men: The Animated Series Recap ⊗ X-Men ’97 Adapts Major Storm Storyline from the Comics ⊗ What Happened to Professor X on X-Men ’97? ⊗ X-Men ’97 Premiere Recap ⊗

John Semper, who served as producer and head writer on the Spider-Man animated series that ran for 65 episodes between 1994 and 1998, recently announced his interest in a Spider-Man ’98, tweeting: “All they [Marvel] have to do is call me. I’m here, and I’d certainly consider doing it.”

New episodes of Marvel’s X-Men ’97 premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.