As fans eagerly anticipate the second season of X-Men ’97, the animated series on Disney+ is dishing out intriguing behind-the-scenes tidbits about your beloved characters. Insights from a fresh art book will offer an extensive exploration into Marvel Animation’s Emmy-nominated remake of X-Men: The Animated Series. Resuming where the original show ended when it aired its last episode in September 1997, this new series brings back familiar faces and boasts a modernized yet recognizable art style. This week, X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series hits the shelves, with sneak peeks revealing new perspectives on three principal characters from the show.
The Art and Making of the Animated Series” provides a detailed examination, offering behind-the-scenes insights from the creative team responsible for the animated series.
The character sketch for Magneto displays various versions of his costume from the “The Trial of Magneto” storyline in Uncanny X-Men #200. Artist Paolo Rivera illustrates four distinct designs, each emphasizing the prominent “M” on Magneto’s chest. Additionally, there are depictions from Uncanny X-Men #202 and a new design featuring Magneto with a white beard.
Subsequently, we transition to a variety of colorful designs by Leinil Yu, in collaboration with Steven Choi and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf. Finally, Amelia Vidal and Franco Spagnolo conclude with black and white designs that exhibit various facial expressions of Magneto, highlighting the versatility of the artistic team.
Chase Conley, the director, began by praising the initial design, reminiscent of Uncanny X-Men #200’s cover, stating, ‘We wanted to highlight the large ‘M’ on his chest, symbolizing mutantkind standing trial. Despite being an unfair trial, the ‘M’ stands for Mutants, and in the background, you can see the U.N., indicating that mutantkind is facing judgment before the world.’
In wrapping up my critique, let’s delve into the creative designs for Beast and Jubilee. The initial three visions of Beast were crafted by Ryan Lang, Jordi Lafebre, and Steve McNiven, each presenting the blue furball in distinct poses.
Moving on, Amelia Vidal offers a unique rendition of Beast donning a white lab coat. Steven Choi and Vy Tran then step in, providing detailed character designs, complete with inked sketches. Their notes are particularly helpful, such as placing shadowed blacks where light doesn’t enter, like on Beast’s neck, while also using blacks to emphasize anatomy.
Finally, we conclude our exploration of Beast’s look with a front and back design by Steven Choi, Paul Harmon, Mark Taihei, and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf. Each artist has contributed their unique touch to this remarkable character, making Beast truly come alive on the screen.
In the iconic yellow raincoat designed by Steve McNiven, Ryan Lang, and Jordi Lafebre, Jubilee is portrayed. Particularly, the work of Jordi Lafebre lends a more lifelike quality to Jubilee. Amelia Vidal, Franco Spagnolo, and Vy Tran collaborate on expressing Jubilee’s facial emotions, followed by Mark Taihei and Mariko Yamashin focusing on her upper body details. Finally, Mariko Yamashin and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf provide perspectives from the front, side, and back.
The book X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series showcases an array of storyboards, character sketches, vehicle designs, new costumes, still images, animatic frames, cels, and more, offering a comprehensive look at every stage of production that the gifted team of animators, designers, and storytellers went through to present viewers with additional thrilling tales of Wolverine, Storm, Bishop, Beast, Jubilee, Cyclops, and other iconic mutants from Marvel.
On July 1st, you’ll find “X-Men ’97: Inside the Animated Series” available for purchase. Grab your copy right here.
Excerpt from X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series (Abrams) by James Field
© 2025 MARVEL
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2025-06-30 17:39