We’re going to hear a very familiar voice as Wolverine when X-Men ‘97 starts streaming. At the end of last year, it was announced that a revival of the X-Men animated series from the 1990s would be getting an official continuation on Disney+. The new series, dubbed X-Men ‘97, picks up directly from where the first cartoon left off, carrying over the same characters with many of the same original voice actors.
One major player from the original X-Men that’s coming back is Cal Dodd. Though he lent his voice to some of the Marvel vs. Capcom video games, Dodd hasn’t since voiced Wolverine in any other Marvel shows or movies. He now appears to be thrilled delivering lines as the fan favorite X-Men hero once again, going by a photo the voice actor posted online of himself back in the recording booth to work on X-Men ‘97.
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“Guess what I was doing in the studio today? SO great to be back!!!” Dodd said on Twitter. The image also reveals the actor to be wearing a yellow-and-black jacket with the name Logan embroidered on the front, and he’s making a hand gesture mimicking Wolverine’s adamantium claws.
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Along with Cal Dodd as Wolverine, other returning cast members include Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Adrian Hough (Mr. Grey), Christopher Britton (Mr. Sinister), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Chris Potter (Gambit), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), and Alyson Court (Jubilee). Joining the cast in new, undisclosed roles are Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett, and AJ LoCascio. Sadly, original actors Norm Spencer (Cyclops) and David Hemblen (Magneto) both passed away last year.
“This is the first X-Men title produced by Marvel Studios,” said Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, when X-Men ‘97 was announced. “What an amazing first step to reintroduce audiences to the X-Men with a look at one of the most pinnacle eras of the X-Men comics, which was the ’90s. That iconic style that has its roots in Chris Claremont, and is celebrated in Jim Lee, and then again in The Animated Series. Over the years, as we’ve met with so many filmmakers who have come in to pitch on various projects, the touchstone that we hear over and over again is X-Men: The Animated Series.”
“As an animated show, the original X-Men was the forerunner to some amazing action series. Everyone that is making X-Men ‘97, top-down, is a fan. On this project, instinctually, we knew exactly what this is. To bring this series forward and pick up that baton, and not just keep running at the same pace, but to really elevate. That’s the responsibility,” Added Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, VP of Animation at Marvel Studios.
X-Men ‘97 will reportedly start streaming on Disney+ sometime in 2023. For now, fans can go back and binge classic episodes of the original X-Men animated series, also available to watch on the streaming service.
