As the owners of Marvel, it wasn’t as if Disney weren’t going to rely on the comic book company’s roster of iconic superheroes as one of the major driving forces behind their desire to take the lead in the streaming wars, especially when they confirmed last year that original Disney Plus content was set to become the number one priority moving forward.
There are already fourteen shows in the works that take place within the confines of Kevin Feige’s shared universe, but there’s another guaranteed smash hit staring them right in the face. X-Men: The Animated Series has proven hugely popular among subscribers since first being added to the library, and it’s even drawn in an entirely new audience of younger fans for good measure.
Producer Larry Houston revealed several months back that talks had taken place over a potential revival, and the speculation only intensified when the original run of episodes got a splashy new trailer to market their arrival to Disney Plus. Several former cast members have since voiced their disappointment that the Mouse House has yet to take the plunge, and in a new interview, Houston sounded less enthusiastic than ever about the animated X-Men returning to our screens.
“We’ve let it be known, like, ‘Hey, we’re still here. We’re not under the ground. We really want to pick up where we left off’. But, it’s been crickets. So I have no idea what they’re doing. When I saw the WandaVision thing, I was like, ‘Oh my god. They’re taking the first baby step!’. But, we haven’t heard anything, so I don’t have anything to report. I wish they would, because we lost the voice actor who did Cyclops. Norm Spencer passed away. And then the guy who did Magneto passed away. The guy who did Juggernaut passed away. All of these within the last five years. So, it’s like, ‘Hey, guys, come on!’.”
Based on his comments, not much has changed, and it appears that the studio themselves are the ones holding out. The creative team behind X-Men: The Animated Series, the voice actors and the show’s legion of fans all want it to happen, but the boardroom look to be dragging their heels. In fact, it’s now in the exact same boat as Gargoyles, another beloved animation that gathered a groundswell of support for a revival when the show debuted on Disney Plus, only for those pleas to fall on deaf ears.