The Team Behind ‘X-Men ’97’ Talk Fan Interactions and Theories: “It’s Absolutely Phenomenal” [EXCLUSIVE]

The return of X-Men ’97 is almost upon us. The beloved Marvel Television series will be back for its sophomore season in just a matter of weeks on July 1st, further spinning out the narrative that began decades prior in X-Men: The Animated Series. The Mary Sue caught up with the cast and crew of X-Men ’97 at the Tribeca Film Festival, where they spoke about the wide variety of reactions they’ve gotten from fans along the way… both when the show was originally on the air, and now.

“Back in 1992, we had no idea if the show would find an audience, if the audience would find the X-Men,” executive producer Julia Lewald began. “And then to watch those 5 seasons become as popular as they were…”

“And then you go on to other stuff and you think, ‘OK, we’re done with that,'” executive producer Eric Lewald continued. “But it continues and continues, and we start going to cons and there’s people that are all dressed up, still, like our show from twenty, thirty years ago. What’s going on? But to me, the coolest part of the new one is all the people that come up to us at cons, it’s like a 42-year-old dad and a 9-year-old daughter who say ‘We watched this together.'”

“Oh my gosh, it’s magic,” Julia added. “‘I’ve watched it with my father. I’m watching it now with my child. It’s like, what?”

For Lenore Zann, whose performance as Rogue has become a clear fan-favorite of the series, she’s especially tickled by the fan theories.

“You know what? I love it,” Zann revealed. “And whenever they ask me online or else at a comic con what’s going to happen, and ‘Well, [Gambit’s gonna come back, and this is gonna happen, and he’s gonna be a horseman of Death or whatever…’ I’m like, ‘You know what, sugars? It’s a story. Let it play out. I’m not going to give you any spoilers.'”

“It’s a treat because the first time around when we did the show back in the 90s, there was no social media,” Zann continued. “There was no internet, there was nothing, not even emails. So now, we’re getting to see the fans in real time react to the show. And also, as you said, they’re trying to figure out what’s going to happen. But I’d like to also say: there are 60 years of comic books that they can choose the stories from, so never just assume anything.”

“I Wouldn’t Have This, If It Weren’t For Wolverine”

Meanwhile, Wolverine actor Cal Dodd zeroed in on the very emotional reactions he’s gotten from fans.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal,” Dodd began. “Every day that I spend at a con, at my desk, at my table for like 8 to 9 hours, I never ever get tired. And they break down in tears. This young lady, she’s probably about 19 or something like that, wrote like a book — like this thick that she wrote — all handwritten about why she loved Wolverine so much and the series to begin with, why Wolverine saved her life a number of times. She would never miss a show ever. I got tears talking to her. And she gave me a copy of the book and said, ‘Would you make sure you read that, Mr. Dodd? You might learn something about Wolverine.’ I said ‘I don’t think so.’ She said ‘Well, read it.’ And I said ‘Oh, I’m gonna read it. Don’t worry about it.’ And I got halfway through and it’s just stunning.”

“It just… different episodes that she mentioned that just stood out to her,” Dodd continued. “When Wolverine goes up to get away from the X-Men up to the Arctic and it’s called “Cold Vengeance”, and he’s just standing there by himself, smelling the fresh air and up to here in snow, and all of a sudden he stops and he smells and says ‘Sabertooth. I can smell him.’ And then he says in the line ‘There’s no peace for me, even here,’ which blew her away. That was how she felt growing up, because she was constantly teased. No one played with her, and there’s no peace for me anywhere. It broke my heart. I’ve seen so many autistic people who totally relate to it. That story is too long to tell, but it was another tear-jerker thing. It’s definitely saved his life from jumping off a building, this kid, who now came up to my table with his daughter who’s 11. He said ‘I wouldn’t have this, if it weren’t for Wolverine.'”

As mentioned above, Season 2 of X-Men ’97 will debut on Wednesday, July 1st exclusively on Disney+.

(featured image: Disney+)

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