X-Men ’97, the continuation of the classic 90s Saturday morning show, is easily one of the biggest animated hits of the year. ScreenHub Entertainment was lucky enough to attend a live panel with many of the voice cast and producers, presented by Comic Con Revolution in California. The panel was hosted by Tiffany Babb, and featured Larry Houston (Producer/OG Animator), Eric and Julia Lewald (producers/OG writers), Ross Marquand (Professor X), Matthew Waterson (Magneto), AJ LoCascio (Gambit), Lenore Zann (Rogue), Gui Agustini (Sunspot), and Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop/T’chaka). 

Gambit v Magneto in Real Life

One of the most entertaining parts of the panel was the occasional sharp-witted exchange between Matthew Waterson, who voiced Magneto, and AJ LoCascio, who voiced Gambit. The two have clearly carried their characters’ romantic rivalry over Lenore Zann’s character Rogue, into the real world. In fact, one of the first questions that host Tiffany Babb asked was about who Rogue would prefer, to which Waterson blurred out “well, only one of us is still breathing”. For the record, Zann clarified that Gambit is Rogue’s true soul mate, to which Waterson replied that he was “okay being her consolation prize for the next 40 years”. LoCascio agreed, in character as Gambit, that it was a fair deal.

Recording X-Men ‘97

During the panel, the dynamic between cast members was fun and familiar, even though they admitted to only really getting to know one another after the X-Men ’97 premiere. They commented on the recording process for the show, which was almost entirely individual recordings of performances. Ross Marquand pointed out that it makes recording episodes easier in terms of scheduling, but some of the dynamic nature of performance is lost. 

The fact that the performances are as believable as they are is a testimony to the skill and professionalism of the actors. Heated exchanges and tender moments can be quite difficult when you can’t see, or even hear, the other person. Matthew Waterson also credited casting director Meredith Layne, who often interpreted and attempted to reproduce the other actors’ performances in the recording booth. He said, “fortunately, she’s great, but it’s still not the person.”

The Responsibility

Almost all of the younger cast members expressed extreme nerves about taking up the mantles of such iconic characters, many having grown up watching the original X-Men series. However, actor Gui Agustini had a slightly different take on the experience. He described a feeling of responsibility, to the fans, but also to represent his home country of Brazil, and his Latino culture. His character, Roberto Da Costa aka Sunspot, is also from Brazil, and that made it all the more important that his representation was authentic.

No More Cameos?

By now, even those who haven’t seen the X-Men ’97 series have probably heard about the multitude of surprise characters who pop up in the series. When the panel was asked what other Marvel characters they would like to see in future seasons, most were fairly predictable fan favorites. Until, however, it was writer/producer Eric Lewald’s turn with the mic. Lewald said that, though he loved all the cameos, he really would like to spend more time with the primary characters, exploring the intricate relationships within the X-Men team. 

The Struggle and The Victory Lap

When host Tiffany Babb asked the OG producers whether or not they felt any pressure to make the X-Men revival a success,  Eric Lewald said “not on us. We were kind of taking a victory lap… We just felt thrilled to be asked to the party,” and Julia Lewald called the whole experience “beyond surreal, but it’s so spectacular.” Eric commented on the pressure they all felt in 1992, during the production of season one of the original show, explaining how no one really knew if the show would work. He explained that product placement was king back during the original run and the studio would often come to the production team and demand certain items or elements be included in the show. 

Lewald gave credit to then FoxKids President Margaret Loesch for “forcing” the show on Fox. He specifically referenced a studio request that he found particularly strange “Any time they said ‘you need to put magneto on a tricycle (pictured below) because we sold some toys in Australia’ she’d say no. Not on my show, thank you.” In response to this revelation, Ross Marquand immediately began googling on his phone and Matthew Waterson exclaimed “I could have had a tricycle?!” Animator Larry Houston recalled one extreme tactic that was employed to keep outside interference at bay. He explained “When they tried to force us to make the show different, we told them “obviously, we’re the wrong creative team for this show and we all quit. We had to make them back off”

Bishop and the King

I have saved this one for last because it does stray close to spoiler territory, even if it is just one of the superhero cameos in the finale. It’s not uncommon for voice actors to lend their talents to more than one character in an animated show. So when the creators of X-Men ’97 decided they wanted King T’Chaka a.k.a. the Black Panther To make an appearance in the final episode of season one, they looked to the actors they already had working for them. Lucky for them, Isaac Robinson-Smith, the voice of Bishop on the show, just happened to have already lent his voice to the Black Panther character for the Avengers Campus attraction at Disney California Adventure. Robinson-Smith was clearly very pleased to have been able to don the black cat cowl once more.

There were so many wonderful moments in this panel that I can not describe them all here. Every guest clearly had a great reverence for the original show and they were all clearly proud of the work they had done on X-Men ‘97. I’d like to thank Comic Con Revolution for inviting me to see this panel.