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Who is the strongest X-Men? The correct answer is probably Jean Grey, who, when imbued with the power of the Phoenix, can achieve psychic control over all minds and matter. Storm and Magneto can also move the Earth itself, mastering the atmosphere and magnetic fields respectively. (In the Krakoa-era “X-Men” comicsthey gather these powers and help terraform Mars.)
However, for sheer physical strength, it’s hard to beat Rogue. Using flight power and super strength stolen from Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Rogue can lift a double-decker bus with one hand, then crush it with two. The 1992 “X-Men” cartoon showed Rogue’s supreme strength in its opening sequence. A giant Sentinel robot extends metal wires from its hands to grab Rogue by the arms. Undeterred, she uses the wires to throw the Sentinel over her head, knocking her to the ground.
The revival series “X-Men ’97” made this plan much more dynamic. In the original, the camera shows Rogue from behind, running, as the off-screen Sentinel catches him. It then cuts to a wide shot of her throwing the Sentinel. In “X-Men ’97”, it’s a single take: once the Sentinel catches Rogue, the frame swerves to face him. She now flies off the ground, then crashes into it, throwing the Sentinel directly towards the camera and shattering it into pieces.
Harry N. Abrams
According to “X-Men ’97: the art and making of the animated series” by James Field, the unique take on “X-Men ’97” was the intention all along. The animation however came back incorrect. “Time and budget constraints” meant the “X-Men” team never had a chance to solve this problem…until “X-Men ’97.”
X-Men director Larry Houston was finally able to fix Rogue vs. the Sentinel
One of the most beloved parts of “X-Men” is its theme song. Of everything “X-Men ’97” had to achievethe title sequence was a top priority. The show itself recruited original series director Larry Houstonto work alongside supervising producer Jake Castorena, director/writer Emmett Yonemura and director Chase Conley to reshoot the opening sequence.
As beloved as the original “X-Men” cartoon was, it was also made cheaply and it shows. The art style and character designs were faithful to the comics, but the animation was pretty rough. The series was primarily animated by South Korean studio AKOM, known for its rather poor quality work on other cartoons like “The Transformers.” (AKOM’s shoddy DIY even got the studio fired from “Batman: The Animated Series” after he animated several episodes of that series.)
That meant “X-Men ’97,” animated by Studio Mir and Tiger Animation, still had room to improve — and it did. The animation is much cleaner and more vibrant than the original “X-Men,” but not so much that it breaks visual continuity. A small part of the improvement was finally realizing Houston’s intention for Rogue’s unique plan fighting the Sentinel. Yonemura recounted in the aforementioned art book:
“We watched [Larry]and we say to ourselves a little: “So can we do [the Rogue scene] a blow ? We worked with one of our board artists to really bring it to life for us. And that’s how you will see it now. It’s like the same moment, but now it’s all at once. We were able to repair it thirty years later, which was really cool.”
X-Men ’97 honored but improved the original series’ opening sequence
As cool as the new Rogue vs. Sentinel one-take is, it’s not even included in every episode of the series. Unlike the original series, the title sequence of “X-Men ’97” is constantly changing.
The opening sequence of “X-Men” is known for its title cards, showing the powers and names of the X-Men one by one. In “X-Men ’97”, the team composition changes often. So, title cards do this too. Following on from the original series finale “Graduation Day,” “X-Men ’97” opens with Professor X left Earth with his beloved Shi’ar Queen Lilandra. The X-Men then learn that Xavier has left Magneto in charge of pursuing his dream.
As of episode 2, Professor X is left out of the title sequence call while Magneto is added. After Storm loses her powers in Episode 2 and leaves the team, she too is kicked out of the titles until she returns later. Gambit is killed in the Genosha massacre in episode 5and Nightcrawler then takes his place on the X-Men; the title sequence removes Gambit and adds Nightcrawler.
The title sequence of “X-Men ’97” also featured a rotating collection of action shots recreating or paying homage to moments from the original series: Jean going power mad during the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” Mister Sinister haunting Morph, Magneto standing atop Asteroid M, and more. “It kind of catches up with you, even if you don’t want to watch the previous seasons,” Emmett Yonemura said. The season finale is dedicated to a psychic reconciliation between Professor X and Magneto. SO, that the opening sequence of the episode shows them as young friends fighting anti-mutant fanatics.
“X-Men ’97” is one of Marvel Studios’ greatest triumphsand the title sequence alone shows the care taken in making the show.
