Tag Archives: x-men-97

2024 Year in Review: I Am Groot Voice Acting Award

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This has been a big year for animation and that means this was going to be a tough award to pick. Of course, it is not just animation for a voice over. It could be a character on a show in a helmet that you never see their face. It could be a mo-cap character. There are a ton of choices.

“I am Groot” Voice Acting Award

Previous Winners:  Robin Williams (Aladdin- honorary), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes),  Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War), Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Jeffrey Wright and Chadwick Boseman (What If…?), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Runners-Up: Let’s start off with one of the toughest jobs of the year. Chris Hemsworth did the voice of Orion Pax/Optimus Prime and had to step into the shoes of iconic EYG Hall of Famer Peter Cullin. And he did a tremendous job in Transformers One. Another film with big shoes to fill was Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Noa was a new protagonist voiced by Owen Teague, who took over the franchise from Andy Serkis. Tom Hardy was the best part of Venom: The Last Dance as he was the voice of Venom as well as Eddie Brock. The Wild Robot had two great performances from Lupita Nyong’o as Roz and Pedro Pascal as Fink. Hamish Linklater was our new animated Batman in Prime’s Batman: The Caped Crusader. Maya Hawke was awesome as the voice of the antagonist in Inside Out 2, Anxiety. Just today, we heard Kathryn Hahn return to the role of Agatha Harkness in one of the best episodes of What If…? ever, and her voice brought the power of this character. Mark Hamill is an iconic voice actor and he continued as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe: Revolutions. Lenore Zann delivered one of the most powerful lines in all of animation this year when she said “I can’t feel you” as Rogue clutched Gambit’s dead body at the end of episode five of X-Men ’97. Alison Sealy-Smith was exceptional in X-Men ’97 as Storm. To be fair, there are so many possible choices from X-Men ’97 because that show was epic.

This year’s winner is also from the show, X-Men ’97.

AJ LoCascio, as Gambit (X-Men’97)

“The name’s Gambit. Remember it.“

He was only in half of the season of X-Men ’97, but he absolutely killed it. Then, episode five of the show is one of the best episodes of TV this entire year. Gambit was at the center of that show and was the massive emotional beat.

X-Men ’97 S1 E8

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“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 1”

The first part of the three-part season finale dropped on Disney + this morning with an epic episode built on previous episodes. Bastian, a character that I really missed out on in the comics, is designed so beautifully, and feels original and unlike any other X-villain.

This episode felt like it fit inside the Marvel Universe more than any X-Men episode, dating back to even the early 1990s. We saw Spider-Man. We saw Dr. Doom. We saw Baron Zemo. We saw Omega Red. We saw the Silver Samurai. I’m really sure that we saw the timeline from Loki. It felt as if this show was building a world that we have known for decades from out of the pages of the comics.

Some of the action in this episode are absolutely bad ass. The Scott, Jean and Cable being pursued by the human/sentinels and plowing through the mountain in a Porsche with optic blasts was unbelievable. The Wolverine falling from the sky, slicing the hybrids on his way down. The use of Nightcrawler and his sabers fighting back-to-back with Wolverine protecting an unconscious Rogue. These scenes were all just so epic.

Magneto was right. Just thought I’d leave that here.

Magneto’s boss move, as Wolverine stated “He declared war on the planet,” happening in the first episode of the three-part episode is dramatic and quite the swing. Seeing Magneto going final boss just before Charles Xavier returned to the earth was poetic.

The family theme goes throughout the episode, with the Summers, with Nightcrawler-Rogue, with Bastian’s background, with Roberto’s mother, with Xavier’s return. The writing on this show just keeps getting better every time.

I love Nightcrawler. He has always been one of my favorite X-Men characters, but he is so perfectly portrayed here and his words are so wise and impacting that I love every second Kurt Wagner is on screen. I hope this character sticks around past this season.

It was a great start to the finale. Two more to go.

X-Men ’97 S1 E7

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“Bright Eyes”

X-Men ’97 is not a kids show. Where as the original X-Men animated series from the 90s was absolutely made for children, this is anything but. While kids could watch and enjoy this show, the themes are considerably more adult than the previous incarnation.

Rogue going rogue showed us that. There is no way that we see Rogue kill Trask in the 90s series. But we saw that here in one of the most dramatic ways possible. Seeing him turn into a hybrid human/sentinel did not change the fact that she let a man fall to his death.

We also saw someone smother Henry Peter Gyrich to death. I am ashamed that I did not recognize Bastion immediately. He is a character that came into prominence during a stretch when I was not reading as many comics as I am now. Still, I should have identified this character sooner.

Having Bastion as the big bad is genius. Having him above Sinister even makes this character an immediate threat. His toying with a captive, yet still alive Magneto was creepy as could be.

I love the inclusion of Nightcrawler this week, but I am surprised that Storm did not make her return yet. She’ll be back soon, I am sure but to see her not at Remy’s funeral was disappointing.

That was another scene that I was not sure we would see. The funeral of Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit was tough. Does this mean that Gambit is truly gone? I know no one is ever truly gone when you are talking about the X-Men, but this felt very final to me. I know the showrunner said that the sacrifices of episode five were definite, that they were there to maintain stakes, but even still. Gambit is a major player in the X-Men universe.

Captain America making a cameo in this episode was interesting, if not unnecessary. Seeing Rogue fling the shield off into the mountains was rude. Emma Frost and her diamond form made an appearance too, saved from the rubble of Madripoor.

They do a remarkable job of packing so much content into a 30-minute episode. It is quite impressive and never feels too short.

The final three episodes, entitled “Tolerance is Extinction,” are a three part saga that the showrunner indicated would be as dramatic as episode five. That can’t get here soon enough. X-Men ’97 has been some amazing television so far.

X-Men ’97

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“To Me, My X-Men”

“Mutant Liberation Begins”

I was not ready for the levels of AWESOMENESS that the new animated series, X-Men ’97, a continuation of the 1990s TV series, X-Men: The Animated Series, would be.

Honestly, I knew there had been positives said about it by many people, but I did not expect the amazing two episodes we got kicking off the series on Disney + today. This was simply epic.

The 90’s series was great in its day, but it does not hold up as well as some animated series. the storytelling in the first series was decent, but the clunky, block-like animation never looked very good. It always felt rushed, as the time frame never seemed to be long enough to sufficiently tell the story. While I loved the show when I was younger, my recent re-watch of a few episodes only enhanced my thoughts that this was not as great as I remembered.

This changes everything.

These two episodes, which deal with the continued rage against mutants and the after effects of the ‘death’ of Charles Xavier, are filled with emotion, action, potential storylines that are not just focused on children.

That is really the main change. The 1990s show was focused on children, while X-Men ’97 feels as if it is not only something that works for children, but also targets those same children of the 1990s who have now grown up. This is a decidedly more adult version of that show. The 1990s show was a cartoon. This is animation.

Speaking of the animation, it does a remarkable job of updating the look of this show without feeling as if it rejects the look of the original. It feels like a new style while still engaging the nostalgia of those fans of the 1990s X-Men show. It is really beautiful and laid out in a wonderful manner.

Cameos everywhere, from actual mutants like Roberto DeCosta to multiple mutants shapeshifted by Morph from everyone from Angel to Sabretooth. You had to keep your eyes open to see what Morph was doing next. And, by the way, I am not even going to address the controversy over Morph that sprung up online. Morph was just amazing. ‘Nuff said.

Note to all future X-Men live action shows or movies, this is how you do Cyclops. Talk about a character that has never been done properly in live action, Scott Summers is right at the top of that list with Doctor Doom. Cyclops is pitch perfect in these first two episodes of the new series.

Oh, and the 90’s show never allowed Storm to bring the level of kick ass as she did in these two episodes. She showed the Omega-level mutant that she is.

These first two episodes have laid the groundwork for some brilliant storylines moving forward. Nathan Summers? Rogue-Magneto? Gambit’s jealousy? Storm’s loss of powers? Roberto and Jubilee? Magneto’s attempt to go straight? Genosha? Was that Madeline Pryor? So many threads here to bare.

The voice cast is exceptional. I do not know how many actors came back to once again voice these characters, but the actors doing these voices sound very much like the cast from the 90’s show. They are exceptional.

What a treat these first two episodes were. I can not rave enough about how much I loved these two episodes. If the remainder of the 10 episodes are the quality of these first two, we are in for quite an amazing and possibly uncanny ride.