X-Men, also called X-Men: The Animated Series, is an animated superhero series that aired on the Fox Kids programming block on the Fox Kids Network. Airing from 1992 to 1997, its popularity and success helped launch a number of 1990s-2000s animated superhero series. It was set in the same universe as Spider-Man, and was followed up by X-Men '97 in 2024.
Episodes
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
History
X-Men was one of the longest-lasting series on Fox Kids, and next to Batman: The Animated Series, its most acclaimed and successful to date.[citation needed] Despite its final new episode airing in late 1998 after 5 complete seasons, Fox did not remove the show from the line-up until 1998. The show is also one of the highest-rated and most-viewed Saturday morning programs in American history. During its peak years (1995 and 1996), the show was often shown weekday afternoons, in addition to Saturday mornings.[citation needed]
From 1992 to 2014, X-Men stood as the longest running Marvel Comics based show, running for five seasons and 76 episodes. This record was broken in October 17, 2015, with the release of the 77th episode of Ultimate Spider-Man, which would ended up lasting four seasons and 104 episodes.
After the box office success of the X-Men movie in the summer of 2000, Fox began airing reruns of the cartoon on weekday afternoons. This ended in early 2001. Soon after, ABC Family and Toon Disney, due to Disney's buyout of all Saban Entertainment programs, began airing reruns.[citation needed]
The show features a team line-up similar to that of the early 1990s X-Men comic books, including Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, and Professor X. In fact, the line up largely resembles that of Cyclops' Blue Team, established in the early issues of X-Men (Vol. 2).
Though they were not part of the X-Men team in the animated series, the following early ā90s X-Men characters all guest starred in at least one episode of the cartoon: Colossus, Nightcrawler, Forge, Banshee, Iceman, Archangel, Psylocke, and Bishop.
Initially only a few episodes were released on DVD, under the titles:
- The Phoenix Saga
- Sanctuary/Weapon X, Lies and Videotape/Proteus
- Reunion/Out of the Past/No Mutant Is an Island
- Legend of Wolverine
Starting in 2009, X-Men: The Animated Series was released on DVD as The X-Men: Marvel Comic Book Collection. There are 5 volumes, including every episode of the series.
Fox canceled the series in large part because the network did not like that Marvel Studios controlled their most popular animated series. Thus, they pulled the plug on both X-Men and Spider-Man animated series despite the fact that both received good ratings. Many fans predicted the series' cancellation because of the noticeable drop in the quality of the animation and story during the second half of the final season. Fox soon realized just how popular the X-Men animated series was when ratings dropped 31% after the network stopped showing it in heavy rotation.[citation needed]