In a recent interview, the main writer of the animated series X Men ’97, Beau DeMayospoke about the differences that we will find in the return of this mythical series with respect to its original stage in the 90s.
Before addressing those differences, DeMayo made it clear what they hope to keep intact. He said that there is a lot of seriousness in all the characters and everyone’s emotions are on display, an aspect of the series that he intends to keep as the main core.
For me, it made sense once I met Julia and Eric Lewald and Larry Houston, who were the creators and directors of the original series, who are literally the best people you can imagine, they are serious and sincere like few others. When you watch the series, I think what we remember is that there is a lot of seriousness in all the characters. Everyone’s emotions are on display. They’re all sincere, and it’s when you meet the Lewalds and Larry that you’re like, ‘Oh, I totally get it.’
Doing that is no easy task, and DeMayo explains that the challenge was to honor that seriousness and emotional sincerity that the original series presented through its characters’ relationships. According to DeMayo, this narrative approach was the secret ingredient of the series that he hopes to replicate with X Men ’97.
So I think the challenge for me was to honor that seriousness, that emotional sincerity in the series where it wasn’t just about the big villains of the day. That was almost, in some cases, an afterthought. It was really about the relationship of this found family, and how they cared for each other and had disagreements. And I always come back to that whenever we’re talking in the writers’ room, or we’re talking to the directors, it’s like, we have to have honest emotion in every scene because I really think that was the secret ingredient of the original series.
When asked how it can improve or differ X Men ’97 of the original series, DeMayo noted that the world is a very different place than it was when that series was made in the 1990s. X-Men stories often reflect real-world social issues, dealing with issues such as race and diversity, and DeMayo’s comments indicate that X Men ’97 will now offer a reflection of modern society in the 2020s rather than how it was in the 1990s.
I don’t know if better would be a word I would use. I think that series is amazing in so many different ways. I think what I would say is that the generation that grew up watching that show, we’ve grown up, and the world is a very different place than when that show was made. So it’s more of a question of, what does that show look like knowing what we know now? And how does it look, in today’s world, with everything that has changed and everything that has not changed, unfortunately, in our world? That’s where I think my focus has been as a storyteller, it really has been that.