So not too long ago, Disney released an announcement for X-Men 07. It isn't a reboot, it isn't a remake, it isn't a standalone movie, it's not even gonna be some Love and Thunder-ian nightmare. It's intended to act as a continuation of the 1990s animated series.
To be perfectly honest, X-Men was never a part of my childhood. I have heard of X-Men in general, but I never heard of the show or saw much of it, at least until Nostalgia Critic covered it way back when. On one hand, I'd have no say in the quality of X-Men, on the other, at least this means I can approach this new show without any bias. How does an outsider feel about X-Men? Especially a Disney property?
General Stuff
When going into a Marvel property, it's important to highlight the connection it has to its parent company. While Disney was able to make Marvel content profitable, it's clear Disney had run Marvel into the ground, and things could be better. A company would do anything to restore good faith, and something tells me that's the mentality Disney had when they decided to do Deadpool 3, and this show, bringing back a popular character, and use nostalgia to some advantage.
A company would often turn to a safe-haven when they know a majority of their projects barely meet or fall below expectations. Why else are we getting another Planet of the Apes movie? And why are we getting more X-Men, let alone a continuation of the 90s series now?
Though honestly it seems like X-Men is the perfect IP to turn to in this era, given its themes, and the only reason it took so long for Disney to get their hands on it was legal ownership, or something like that, I don't know the score.
I'm not one of those "anti-woke" types who would assume X-Men has been pigeonholed, because that would be a stretch. The old cartoon, even the general philosophy, has always been progressive, though I would argue it and other shows like it handled certain themes better than most shows today; either with more subtlety or better writing, whereas a lot of stuff these days are a bit too on the nose. I'm all for covering issues, but there're right and wrong ways to go about it.
Recognizable Changes
As far as noticeable changes go, it is said that Morph will become non-binary. I get what they're going for, given that Morph's ability is to become anyone he/she/they so chooses, with so many identities, it's fair to assume they have little sense of their own identity anymore. I guess if anyone had to go through an overhaul Morph seemed like the ideal choice.
A Rant about Asses
But there is of course one aspect that's driving people nuts. Rogue's ass. People are mad that Rogue isn't as, ahem, built as she was back then, and given people's attitudes toward more progressive stuff these days you can imagine what that's like.
Back in the 90s, before any real standards were set, before any major disasters influenced the future of cartoons as we knew them, things were a bit looser, and cheap, and that was outweighed by the ambition writers had back then, animation errors and off-modeling would be very common back then.
And what am I trying to say here? The calling card people go to, the one shot people use when making their complaints... it was off-model. Rouge does not have that big of an ass in any scene other than the one people go to. It's all one big misunderstanding that people refuse to pick up on.
But why would they? Well, referring back to the lack of standards and how 90s cartoons got away with a lot back then? Among many things, one of them was women with sex appeal. Such examples include the 1996 Incredible Hulk cartoon, with the infamous She-Hulk transformation that got a lot of people interested in the character, I can attest. That booty shot of Rogue had a similar effect on a lot of people.
Now, it's one thing to get an interest, everyone has their kinks, they're not my business, but this has gone beyond a simple interest to an actual criticism toward X-Men 97, especially since it's over something that was never really considered in-model for Rogue to start with.
To sum this up, I've developed a psychological complex where if people shit on a new iteration of an old show because of very minor things, especially if there's a good explanation to why things have changed, I will not take them seriously. I'm saying this as someone who had no background with X-Men, as someone who can see the faults in established properties trying to approach modern issues, and something's smelling rotten.
Final Thoughts
I have no intention of watching X-Men 97, along with the lack of attachment to X-Men, I don't have, nor do I intend to get Disney+. Honestly, X-Men 97 seems like a desperate attempt by Disney to restore good faith to the Marvel brand by relying on nostalgic properties, and a lot of people are clearly taking the bait. Who knows what the actual show will be like, but I'm not gonna find out.
And to think, the one thing people lost their shit over was an off-model scene not being represented. It's bound to lead to a snowball effect that would turn the tides on media discussion, probably, I dunno.
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