Canadians can get a special early look at X-Men ’97 this weekend ahead of its March 20th premiere.
On Monday, the official Marvel Studios Canada social media account revealed that the first episode of the highly anticipated series will be screened at Toronto Comicon, which runs this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Calling all X-MEN Fans! Join us this weekend in the X-MEN ’97: Xavier’s Lounge for Gifted Youngsters at Toronto Comicon. This is your chance to dive back into the 90s and screen the first episode of the new Disney+ animated series X-Men ’97. pic.twitter.com/wl6JOCthuf
— Marvel Studios Canada (@MarvelStudiosCA) March 11, 2024
At the show, the company will run a special ‘Weekend Morning Cartoon’ event on Saturday, March 16th and Sunday, March 17th between 10:30am and 1:30pm. This will take place in ‘Xavier’s Lounge for Gifted Youngsters’ (better known as Room 203CD).
On Saturday, the pilot of X-Men ’97 will be shown, followed by a Q&A panel with Canadian entertainment podcast The Movie Podcast and returning Canadian X-Men: The Animated Series stars Cal Dodd (Wolverine), George Buza (Beast), Lenore Zann (Rogue) and Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler).
For the remainder of the lounge’s opening hours, re-runs of the original X-Men: The Animated Series will be shown. However, Marvel is encouraging fans to arrive early for “seating, swag and cereal.” Of course, you’ll also need Toronto Comicon tickets, which start at $28.
Outside of the lounge, these cast members, as well as Catherine Disher (Jean Grey in X-Men: TAS), Alyson Court (Jubilee in X-Men: TAS) and Chris Britton (Mr. Sinister), will take part in a panel on Friday, March 15th at 2:45pm. The actors will also be doing photos and autographs in between on Friday.
Following its run from 1992 to 1997, X-Men: The Animated Series has lived on as one of Marvel’s most beloved series. It also helped pave the way for many other properties, including Spider-Man: The Animated Series (with which it had two crossovers) and Fox’s live-action X-Men films.
X-Men ’97 continues from where the ’90s series left off with Magneto now leading the team following the death of Charles Xavier. The first two episodes of X-Men ’97 premiere on Disney+ on March 20th, with the remainder of the 10-episode season dropping weekly thereafter. A second season of the series is already in development.
This isn’t the only major X-Men title with heavy Canadian connections to drop this year. Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Vancouver’s Ryan Reynolds alongside Hugh Jackman, will hit theatres on July 26th.
Image credit: Marvel Studios Animation
Update: 11/03/2024 at 3:33pm ET — This story mentioned that Jubilee actor Alyson Court was taking part in the Saturday Q&A, when it should have said Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler). It’s been updated accordingly.
