The 3 Marvel Animation Projects That Should Follow X-Men ’97
If you would have told me that the best thing Marvel Studios would produce in recent years was a sequel series to the 1990s X-Men series, I would have told you that you were crazy. The theme song is great. It’s always stuck with me. (Listen to it and get it stuck in your head too!) Here we are. 10 episodes down. The first season of X-Men ’97 is complete. As it ended, I couldn’t wait to see the second season. Luckily, we know that is already coming. There could even be more after that.
What else surprised me is that Marvel has split into different divisions. There are three in total now: Marvel Studios, Marvel Television, and Marvel Animation. As an animation fan, I foamed at the mouth, knowing there wouldn’t just be more X-Men but more shows and movies in general. What If has been a fun show. We know that a spinoff, Marvel Zombies, is coming down the pipeline, but what else? What could we see from this new division at Marvel? What could get the X-Men ’97 treatment? A revamping of classic shows or something new that works in animation better than live action. Here are my 3 Marvel Animation shows that should get that treatment.
The Silver Surfer
It’s rumored that Julia Garner is going to play the Silver Surfer. Whether that’s part of the Fantastic Four, or something else, it doesn’t matter. For me, the Silver Surfer is primed for animation. The Guardians of the Galaxy did a good job of introducing the cosmic side of Marvel, but the Silver Surfer is weird. The benefit of animation is that it can get weird without looking cheesy. One of the major complaints for recent Marvel films is the VFX work. We now know the problems with Marvel’s visuals. The workload is enormous and staff is underpaid. (We have an article about it!) That’s why the Silver Surfer should skip over that.
There was an animated Silver Surfer series that ran for 1 season in 1998 but it’s not as fondly remembered as the X-Men. A reboot of the series can see Norrin Radd surfing the universe. The silver alien man can battle Galactus. He can visit the Fantastic Four on Earth. He can fight giant bugs in space. The limitations are endless. That’s what the Silver Surfer needs. Marvel Animation can provide that.
Squirrel Girl
There have been talks of making a Squirrel Girl show in the past. It was planned to be a live-action show. There was a pilot shot for a New Warriors show, the group she is a part of. That show never made it to the public. Quite honestly, I don’t think it should. Marvel has had some really interesting characters. Rocket Raccoon and Groot, for example. Who ever thought a tree with only one word as a language would work? Regardless, a girl with a giant fluffy tail doesn’t feel like it belongs in the MCU. An animated TV show about Squirrel Girl, though? The character has been a part of many storylines, but I’d set the show in her college years.
Think about something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She deals with the issues of a young woman coming of age. She also has to deal with Kraven the Hunter or some other villain. It can be Marvel’s version of Riverdale to some degree. Animation would allow it to not be as melodramatic and cheesy. It can have romance, drama, and action without CGI halting it from looking cool. In live action, I’d only be wondering about how her tail works. With animation, we can just focus on the story and not get caught up in weird details around physics and visual effects. It’s what X-Men ’97 did well and Squirrel Girl can do the same.
The New Mutants
2020’s The New Mutants might be one of those films I secretly liked while everyone else hated it. I guess the secret is out now. Maybe not entirely it’s fault, the film was in limbo for a few years before it released to hardly anyone in theaters. It was the first film I saw once theaters opened up again. Maybe that’s why I love it but I digress.
The New Mutants promised elements of horror and drama that were delivered, but not to the extent most wanted. That includes me. The setting of an asylum is perfect. As an offshoot from the X-Men, this seems like a perfect pitch. Sunspot can be a part of the cast. An animated show can be similar enough to X-Men ’97, but focus in more on teens rather than adults with adult issues. Like a Squirrel Girl show, this can have the romance and drama, but it can incorporate some horror. They have a werewolf on the team. It’s right there!
The Future of Marvel Animation
Marvel stories are perfect for animation. The translation from comic book to silver screen is so much easier. Audiences can accept much more. The beauty of animation is that anything is possible. I hope that Marvel Studios takes that to heart and pushes the envelope. They can do in animation what they can’t in live action. This new division has opened up the catalogue to so many stories and I can’t want to see what jumps to the screen.
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