The first season of X-Men 97 has been a massive success among fans and critics alike. The praise for the Disney+ series has been consistent, culminating in a fantastic finale, setting a high bar for future seasons. Marvel fans are now asking themselves: Is X-Men 97 the best thing Marvel Studios has ever done?
The House of Ideas surprised both skeptics and followers by announcing that they would release a sequel to the popular X-Men animated series nearly 30 years later. The success of this nostalgic yet risky series, which had fired its showrunner just days before the premiere, wasn’t as evident before its release as it is now.
With the first season concluded, critics have sided with Kevin Feige’s studio. The series has earned a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics (100% when considering only the most reputable reviews).
These ratings position X-Men 97 as the best Marvel production according to critics on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing the Ms. Marvel series, which holds an impressive 98% rating. No other project from the studio, whether on the big screen or television, has achieved such high praise from critics.
Beau DeMayo, the currently unemployed creator of the series and a frequent participant in online discussions after each episode, celebrated the achievement on his Twitter account.
Sick as a dog but summoned the energy to post that #xmen97 is back to 100% on @RottTomatoes, making it the best-reviewed Marvel project EVER. pic.twitter.com/rsYRjoLz4U
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) May 22, 2024
On the same website, viewers have given the series a 95% rating, higher than titles like Avengers: Endgame (90%) and Guardians of the Galaxy (92%).
These assessments might be viewed with skepticism if Rotten Tomatoes were the only platform praising the latest Marvel series, but that’s not the case. On IMDb, X-Men 97 has a 9.0 rating, placing it at number 47 within the top 250 TV series.
On Filmaffinity, the series has an average user rating of 7.8, making it the highest-rated Marvel Studios production on the site, surpassing Avengers: Infinity War (7.5) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (7).
In terms of viewership, the final episode also set a new record, attracting three and a half million viewers in its first five days on the platform, according to Deadline. “Tolerance is Extinction Part 3” is the most-watched animated series finale since What If…?
Marvel Studios has officially confirmed two more seasons of X-Men 97. However, given the show’s tremendous reception, it’s not unreasonable to think that the series will continue beyond those three seasons.
Marvel fans’ next encounter with the mutants will be on the big screen. On July 25, “Deadpool and Wolverine” will hit theaters, marking the only Marvel Studios film to be released in theaters this year. In addition to the movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Kevin Feige’s studio is already working on a new live-action X-Men film, the first within the MCU. Michael Lesslie, the scriptwriter behind The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is rumored to be writing the screenplay.
