SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Summary X-Men '97 is fixing the perception of the titular mutants by reversing the changes made to their comic book characters in 20th Century Fox's live-action franchise. While the X-Men have always been popular staples of Marvel Comics, their popularity became noticeably more mainstream with both the best and worst X-Men movies of the 2000s and 2010s.
In the X-Men movies, Rogue was much more subdued, calm, and timid in comparison to her animated counterpart. This, combined with the lack of powers, saw the public perception of the character altered greatly. With X-Men '97, the version of Rogue from The Animated Series returns in all her glory. Almost instantly, X-Men '97 has rectified this mistake. In the absence of Charles, Cyclops is immediately depicted as the team's de-facto leader. This is evident in the opening action sequence against the Sentinels, as well as Scott's emotional arc that sees him worry between leading the team and settling down with Jean Grey.
6 Jubilee Is Utilized Much Better A character vastly misused in live-action is better served in X-Men '97. Despite Jubilee's importance to X-Men: The Animated Series, she was massively mishandled in the live-action films. Jubilee was reduced to cameo appearances in the original X-Men trilogy, before being considered but then removed from X-Men: Days of Future Past. Many thought Jubilee would get her dues in X-Men: Apocalypse, played by Lana Condor.
In X-Men '97 episodes 1 and 2, Magneto is shown to be continuing Charles' dream of bettering human-mutant relations. While it could be the case that this does not last, Magneto is being portrayed as much more inherently good than any of the X-Men live-action movies. This makes his character infinitely more compelling, especially after what he has been through in X-Men: The Animated Series.
Due to this lengthy, public lack of Gambit, his appearance in X-Men '97 feels like a fix in and of itself. That is not to mention his compelling character arc involving his relationship with Rogue, or his essential combat prowess in the show's first episode. All of this makes Gambit feel like a breath of fresh air, if only for his lack of appearances in live-action.