Well, for the past 25 years or so, there have already been 4 attempts at an X-Men cartoon if you want to count the pitch pilot of Pryde of the X-Men.
Recently, I finally got around to watching Wolverine and the X-Men. I had some low expectations of the series because Wolverine was kind of a flagship character in Evolution as well and put in a leadership position in that respective series. But after watching it, it really blew me away and was really devastated to see that it only lasted one season. Then I reflected on how I rank them.
Well, I honestly rank Wolverine and the X-Men as my favorite just a tad decimal point or two over the 1990s series. I liked how dark and gritty it was and had excellent character exploration for most of the characters. I also liked how they hinted Wolverine's true origins since Wraith calls him by his real name, James. I felt if the series went far, they could have explored Wolverine's origin. I always knew Wolverine was a bad donkey and all that, but considering the nature of his character in relation to his lifespan and experiences and previous training, I felt his role as a leader made sense and the writing of the show did an excellent job of demonstrating that. I thought the characters' other qualities from the comics translated well to this series, too.
I could go on and on about this series, but I'll leave it here.
Next is the 1990s series that debuted 20 years ago. I barely got into X-Men shortly before this series debuted and it was around the time the comic was re-branded with Jim Lee's designs so I was immediately sold. I felt the series equally balanced their characters the best and was one of the first cartoons in America to be a bit more seralized in the confides of their seasons. It also took a lot of ballsy gambles for its time such as the assumed death of Morph and openly talking about serious issues like discrimination and religion with the Nightcrawler centric episodes. I thought the Nightcrawler episode was a great episode about faith and you see both sides of the issue. Nightcrawler is a devoted Catholic and Wolverine is a staunch atheist.
Resolution wise, some of the animation doesn't hold up, but I still love the artistic designs as I said before and the action sequences. I also LOVED the voice cast of this. Chris Potts did a great Gambit who came across as a sleaze and charming. I thought Rogue's southern belle accent was really attractive. Cyclops sounded apporpriately authorative. Wolverine had a Clint Eastwood edge. Everytime I read an X-Men comic, it is their voices that come to my heads. And we can't deny its kick donkey opening theme. One of the best ever!!!
Next is Evolution. I had a hard time easing into it and it was a series that gets better as it progresses, especially when Scarlet Witch is introduced. I didn't like the fact that the writers put them in a different high school. I mean, isn't Xavier's mansion supposed to function as a regular school as well? I had a hard time sinking that in. I had no problems making the X-Men teenagers since the comics had them start out as teens so it was interesting to take that approach. I like how they took what was done before and put in a teenage perspective since that is a time when people are trying to understand things and are growing.
And last is Pryde of the X-Men. It is silly, but I still enjoy it. I will admit that the animation is descent and I do like the resolution and it complimented the designs very well. But the voice acting was just hilarious but not to the God awful levels of an anime dub. Magneto was too much of a cliche villain and Wolverine's voice is like WTF. I thought it was a series that it had its own distinct potential, but I am glad I caught this shortly before the 1990s series debuted.
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