How Τhe X-Men '97 Opening Credits Fixed A Clumsy Rogue Moment From The Original Series

Marvel Studios Animation

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Who is the strongest of the 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, with mastery over the atmosphere and magnetic fields, respectively. (In the Krakoa-era "X-Men" comics, they put those powers together and help terraform Mars.)

For pure physical strength, though, it's hard to beat Rogue. Thanks to some flight power and super strength stolen from Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Rogue can lift a double decker bus with one hand — and then crush it with two. The 1992 "X-Men" cartoon showed off Rogue's supreme strength in its opening title sequence. A giant robot Sentinel extends metal wires from its hands to grab Rogue by her arms. Undeterred, she uses the wires to throw the Sentinel over her head, slamming it into the ground.

The revival series "X-Men '97" made this shot much more dynamic. In the original, the camera shows Rogue from behind, running, as the offscreen Sentinel grabs her. It then cuts to a wide shot of her throwing the Sentinel. In "X-Men '97," it's a single take: once the Sentinel grabs Rogue, the frame swerves around to face her. She now flies off the ground and then slams back into it, throwing the Sentinel straight towards the camera and smashing it to pieces.

Harry N. Abrams

According to "X-Men '97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series" by James Field, the single take in "X-Men '97" had been the intention all along. The animation came back incorrect, though. "Time and budget restraints" meant the "X-Men" team never got the chance to fix it... until "X-Men '97."

Marvel Studios Animation

One of the most beloved parts of "X-Men" is its theme song. Of everything that "X-Men '97" had to get right, the title sequence was a top priority. The show even recruited the original series' director, Larry Houston, to work alongside supervising producer Jake Castorena, director/storyboard artist Emmett Yonemura, and director Chase Conley in remaking the opening sequence.

As beloved as the original "X-Men" cartoon is, it was also made on the cheap and it shows. The art style and character designs were faithful to the comics, but the animation was quite rough. The series was primarily animated by South Korean studio AKOM, known for its rather low quality work on other cartoons like "The Transformers." (AKOM's shoddy craft even got the studio fired from "Batman: The Animated Series" after animating several episodes of that show.)

That meant "X-Men '97," animated by Studio Mir and Tiger Animation, had room to improve — and it did. The animation is much cleaner and more dynamic than the original "X-Men," but not so much that it breaks visual continuity. A small piece of the improvement was finally realizing Houston's intention for the one-take shot of Rogue fighting the Sentinel. Yonemura recounted in the aforementioned art book:

"We looked at [Larry], and we're kind of like, 'So can we make [the Rogue scene] one shot?' We worked with one of our board artists to really flesh it out for us. And that's how you'll see it now. It's like the same moment, but now it's all as one shot. We were able to kind of fix it for him thirty years later, which was really cool."

Harry N. Abrams

As cool as the new Rogue vs Sentinel one-take is, though, it's not even included in every episode of the series. Unlike the original series, the title sequence of "X-Men '97" is always changing. 

The "X-Men" opening sequence is noted for its the title cards, showing off the X-Men's powers and names one-by-one. In "X-Men '97," the team line-up often shifts. Thus, the title cards do too. Carrying on from original series finale "Graduation Day," "X-Men '97" opens with Professor X having departed Earth with his beloved Shi'ar queen Lilandra. The X-Men then learn that Xavier left Magneto in charge of continuing his dream.

Starting with episode 2, Professor X is dropped from the title sequence roll call while Magneto is added in. After Storm loses her powers in episode 2 and leaves the team, she too is dropped from the titles until she later returns. Gambit is killed in the Genosha massacre in episode 5, and Nightcrawler then takes his place on the X-Men; the title sequence drops Gambit and adds in Nightcrawler. 

The "X-Men '97" title sequence also included 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, etc. "It kind of catches you up, even if you don't want to watch the previous seasons," said Emmett Yonemura. The season finale is all about a pyschic reconcillation between Professor X and Magneto. So, that episode's opening sequence shows them as young friends fighting off anti-mutant bigots. 

"X-Men '97" is one of Marvel Studios' greatest triumphs, and the title sequence alone shows the care that went into making the show.