Credit: Marvel Studios/Sony PicturesMarvel just dropped the first look at its upcoming X-Men 97 animated series, and they may have hidden a teaser for a new Spider-Man project in a clever shot.
With Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) a few years ago, it also finally gave Disney and Marvel the rights to other classic Marvel characters, like Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. After years of development limbo, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Fantastic Four project finally confirmed its cast and release date yesterday, confirming longstanding rumors that Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn would be starring in the film.
In addition, Marvel just released the trailer for their newest animated project, X-Men 97, and the series is expected to pick up where the original cartoon left off. However, two very interesting things in the trailer could point to what Marvel has planned next. Rather than just being created under the Marvel label, it appears as though Marvel has created an animation sector, with the series released under “Marvel Animation.” Marvel has dived into animated series in the past, including its popular What If…? series on Disney+. However, this marks the first time that Marvel has debuted its official animation studio and it could be a major indicator of what fans can expect in the future.
One potential project Marvel could be rebooting or reviving is the classic animated Spider-Man series. Spider-Man: The Animated Series originally ran from 1994 to 1998 on the Fox Kids Network. It was a popular take on the iconic webslinger that aired alongside the original X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 to 1997. The final episode of Spider-Man was the first to introduce the Spider-Verse, which helped inspire the successful Sony Animated trilogy.
A shot from the X-Men 97 trailer shows the front page of the Daily Bugle flying across the screen, which is the newspaper that Peter Parker works for. A sneak peek headline asks, “Is Spiderman a Mutant?” which could hint at the possibility of Spider-Man cameoing in a future episode of the X-Men series, if not an actual rebooted series of his own. At the very least, it confirms that a variant of Spider-Man exists in the same universe as this upcoming reboot.
Marvel has been on a roll this week, first releasing the Deadpool 3 trailer during the Super Bowl, then officially announcing the cast and release date for Fantastic Four, and now releasing the trailer for the highly anticipated X-Men reboot. Marvel Studios struggled last year, finally announcing a massive upheaval after a series of disappointing releases. Hopefully, things are looking up for Marvel and the MCU if this week is any indication.
Do you think Marvel Animation will reboot Spider-Man: The Animated Series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!