After watching the first two episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men, a shocking revelation has struck me: I’ve realized that I actually have grown up on X-Men cartoons. I saw each of the two series and one failed pilot on TV, and I still do own each animated adaptation Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men: Evolution via VHS and DVD copies.
I still enjoy watching X-Men: The Animated Series on Toon Disney (soon to be Disney: XD) – If for only one thing: the opening intro. The intro’s to the X-Men animated series’ are iconic.
Pryde Of The X-Men:
Pryde of the X-Men is hilariously cheesy. The animation looks top-notch aiming for realism.
X-Men: The Animated Series:
X-Men: The Animated Series has the most well-known intro out of the X-Men series. When you think of the X-Men this is the music that you think of.
X-Men: The Animated Series (Japanese Intro):
The Japanese took an already cool intro and made it 1000x more cool. Well I think this trailer has mixed in music by a fan. Still really cool though.
X-Men Evolution:
X-Men Evolution is slightly generic, but it does have relatively memorable music.
Wolverine and the X-Men:
Now in the 21st century, Nicktoons will begin to air all 26 episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men.
To me the music feels a lot more somber, as if the X-Men and mutants are really fighting for their survival and losing the battle. It is a different tone than any of the previous cartoons. I really cannot tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing because I have been so brainwashed by the X-Men: The Animated Series theme song.
Fan-mix – X-Men: The Animated Series theme:
Compare this fan-mixed intro that uses the X-Men: The Animated Series theme to the previous Wolverine and the X-Men theme song. Which would you prefer? You probably know where I stand. (get it X-Men: The Last Stand – nerd joke? no? ok fine moving on.)
———–
Now that I’ve gotten that issue out of my system let me get into actually reviewing this show based on the first two episodes.
The premise is that one day an attack from an unknown enemy occurs at Xavier’s Mansion. Professor X and Jean Grey are abducted to an unknown location. The school shuts down and a year later Wolverine decides to bring back the X-Men. While this is happening, the Brotherhood is trying to kill Senator Kelly as he unveils the Sentinel program. In the mean time, references to Magneto’s Genosha are placed throughout the story.
If you have no idea as to what I’m talking about, you’re not an X-Men fan. If you are a fan, then you should be drolling all over yourself! Wolverine and the X-Men‘s story begins right in the heat of the battle. This is the juicy stuff that still never took place in the trilogy of films. It’s fantastic that Wolverine and the X-Men is not a retelling of the same old origin stories that we all know well.
These two episodes were pretty serious in tone. There wasn’t much, if not any, comedy to talk about. It was story and action driven. I don’t really know if everyone out there will like this show because of that.
Bottom line is that I do recommend that comic book fans check out this series on Nicktoons when it premieres on January 23 at 8pm. I definitely would like to know whether or not you would keep watching this show after the episodes air. Right now I’d say that I would, but I don’t know if I could stick through all 26 episodes.
