Why Storm's Mutant Powers Were Always A Challenge For X-Men '97 Animators

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The presence of Storm on the X-Men practically negates the need for any other members. Storm, as all comic readers can tell you, has the mutant ability to psychically control the weather. She can use winds to make herself fly, but also summon lightning bolts to strike her foes. She can call upon arctic winds to create ice or whip up a destructive tornado. Storm could, if she had the wherewithal, irrigate vast deserts. She could change entire ecosystems singlehandedly. She could wipe out vast armies with a well-placed hurricane. With a person like that on the X-Men, having a man with switchblade knuckles or a dude with laser eyes seems like small potatoes. 

On the new TV series "X-Men '97," Storm is played by Alison Sealy-Smith, reprising the role from the original 1992 show "X-Men: The Animated Series."  The showrunners wisely kept Storm's powers relatively modest, usually only depicting her flying, throwing a few small lightning bolts, or blowing people over with a gust of wind. Only in a few extreme cases did Storm summon her namesake. If Storm used her powers to their fullest in every episode, it would change the nature of the show. It would become "The Storm Show."

But it's not just storytelling limitations that have prevented the "X-Men '97" showrunners from tapping into Storm's full potential. It seems there are practical considerations as well. Storms are difficult to animate, and it takes a lot of line mileage and visual effects to depict a tornado in action. These struggles were discussed briefly in the new book "X-Men '97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series" by James Field. Effects animator Chris Graf was quoted as saying Storm's weather powers are, essentially, too epic to animate regularly.

Marvel Animation/Disney+

The writers of "X-Men '97" did occasionally get ambitious with Storm's abilities, which was a headache for Chris Graf. Can Storm's powers summon a tornado? Yes. Can her lightning powers instantly turn sand into glass? Also, yes. Indeed, couldn't her powers be used to turn a whole desert into glass, and could the glass then be used as a cutting tool against giant attacking robots, with shards propelled by the wind? Indeed, they can. But how do you animate all of that on a TV budget for a 30-minute kids' show? All of those things happen, by the way, in the very first episode of "X-Men '97." As Graf explained: 

"[Storm is] tough to nail because her Omega-level status goes hand in hand with epic, large-scale action. [...] Animating hurricanes and tornadoes at massive scale is never easy. In fact, to convincingly animate her powers often requires input from multiple departments. For example, in episode 1, she summons lightning all around her in the desert, and the entire area turns to glass, only to be shattered, scattering debris that slices up the Sentinels." 

The wind would likely have to be animated by the effects department, while a separate team worked on the shattering glass. The Sentinels (the giant robots) are handled by a character animating department, and the landscapes are handled by background artists. Everyone had to put in ample time for what amounts to only a few seconds of screen time, and this sort of thing happens in almost every episode that Storm is in.

Marvel Animation/Disney+

Chris Graf continued by pointing to a less elaborate but not less difficult sequence from the show's following episode. Storm requires a lot of flashing lightning effects, and all that needs to be coordinated across several animation departments, something that makes Graf's job all the more difficult. As he described: 

"In Episode 2, lighting becomes a big factor in setting the mood when the clouds start rolling in and Storm summons lightning into the courtroom. The lights flicker off, and the lightning flashes become the source of light for all the shadows in the room. Getting the scale of her Immense power correct can take a lot of planning across many departments, which is something I have to coordinate."

Of course, the efforts are worth it, as the visual effects make Storm's powers seem that much more impressive. The first season of "X-Men '97" concluded in May of 2025, and its second season is due to debut on Disney+ sometime in the middle of 2026. The show's former showrunner, Beau DeMayo, already wrote all the episodes, although he will not be working on the show's intended third season, as he was fired for alleged "egregious conduct." The rest of the animation team seems to have remained on board, however, meaning that Storm's weather effects will at least be as impressive as in the first season. Also, the series has been crazy so far. 

In /Film's review, we said that "X-Men '97" gives off the impression of speed-running a 26-episode animation season, but watched out of order. This approach has left the show exhilarating and gloriously unpredictable. Let's hope the magic remains.