Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has come and gone, and with no certain spoilers at all, Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men, received several rounds of applause across theaters nationwide. The iconic hover chair coupled with the addition of the subtle tones of the original theme (officially billed in the credits as the “X-Men ‘97” theme) sent fanboys and girls everywhere into a frenzy of nostalgia. The fact the character joins his place with The Illuminati is even more reason to get excited. Naturally, the fallout has audience members reliving their favorite moments of X-Men shows come and gone. Here is the list of every animated X-Men show ever made, ranked.
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6 X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men
New World Pictures
Originally broadcast in 1989, and narrated by Marvel god, Stan Lee, X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men only had one episode to its credit. In this case, it was too bad because the show actually showed promise, featuring cameos such as Emma Frost. The episode was pretty action-packed and featured a mission to space to fight Magneto and his evil Brotherhood. The character designs were meant to mimic the X-Men game that was very popular in arcades — remember those? — at the time. Despite its great potential, one episode lands it at the bottom of this list.
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5 Wolverine and the X-Men
Lionsgate Television
Created by Kevin Feige, Wolverine and the X-Men ran from 2008-2009 and featured a different kind of X-Men show. On the heels of a couple movies and an animated series that showed Scott Summers and Professor X as leaders of the X-Men, this show in particular thrust Wolverine into the spotlight. The decision did not do much to benefit the show as Wolverine was featured in multiple media at the time, especially with the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The show, however, did do some good things. Anyone with a basic understanding of the characters could jump right in and immerse themselves with the story, thus making it easy to follow. Aside from that, though, the show did leave most audience members wanting more as well as craving a few different creative decisions.
4 X-Men Anime
Animax
More of a limited series than anything, X-Men Anime ran 12 episodes in 2011. The key focus was the X-Men as they traveled Japan to investigate a series of mysteries surrounding a mutant named Armor. There wasn’t much here in the way of story, but the animation style, background, and characters are just so beautifully drawn that the show demands watching. Marvel, who has dipped their feet into anime on several occasions, as outlined by CBR, seemingly thought they could get away with wonderful aesthetics and not worry about solid story telling. If not for that, this may be a little higher on the list.
3 Wolverine
Everything you would expect a Logan story to be as far as tone: violent and dark. Another selection from the Marvel Anime library, Wolverine portrayed a sole focus on the titular mutant, which followed the comic story of the same name. As far as anime goes the show, which ran in 2011, was one of the best pieces put out under the Marvel Anime library, which included titles such as Iron Man and Blade. Tonally, the show brought much more than X-Men Anime and didn’t sacrifice aesthetics to do it. Wolverine provided fans the rare-for-the-time combination of being a great comic book adaptation in a time when Hollywood found itself taking liberties, which has continued to this day.
2 X-Men: Evolution
Film Roman / Marvel Studios
In a time when animated offerings were incredibly subpar and mainly used to appeal to kids to sell toys, X-Men: Evolution wasn’t even in the same stratosphere. The show was easily one of the best 2000s animated TV shows, and many may consider placing it as number one on this list. The show dealt with several mature themes as it showed the iconic team as kids in high school and the forces of good and evil recruiting teens to their sides. Magneto was first portrayed as a shadowy character, and while there were certainly dust-ups between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, towards the end of the show, all parties, including the Acolytes, discovered they must work together to stop the main threat: En-Sabah-Nur, a.k.a. Apocalypse. The show fleshed out relationships that should have long been fleshed out: Rogue and Nightcrawler with their mother Mystique, Magneto and his kids, including the difficult decision to put Wanda away because of her out of control powers, and Scott coming to terms with the death of his parents. The offering had substance during its four-season run starting in 2000. The show also dealt with fitting in at school, peer pressure, and racism, all themes that its core audience may in fact be dealing with in their personal lives, thus making it more relatable.
1 X-Men: The Animated Series
Marvel Entertainment
Running from 1992-1997, X-Men: The Animated Series was simply amazing. It featured typical animation for the time period and introduced a plethora of characters. The offering had a different tone from most Saturday Morning features, and shared a tone similar to shows such as Transformers: Beast Wars. X-Men: The Animated Series took everything from the time one step forward. Immediately, the show dealt the audience a devastating blow with the loss of X-team mate Morph, only to be brought back by Mr. Sinister much later to betray those he once loved before getting a little redemption. This moment defines the show, as well as what the audience is to expect, perhaps effecting Wolverine most of all.
Much like Evolution, TheAnimated Series fleshed out its own set of issues, such as mutants and their acceptance into society, being different, a struggle many know in the current climate of the world. With universal themes as well as great action and plenty of cameos including Spider-Man from his adjoining cartoon that ran in a similar time slot, the show resonated with fans everywhere — and the toys were incredible. The show simply accomplished everything that it was intended to, which is probably why it is going to be revived on Disney+ as an upcoming project for the House of Mouse’s Marvel selections.