Let that epic theme song roar, the X-Men animated series is coming back! In one of the more shocking announcements from Disney+ Day, Marvel revealed that they are going to revive the original X-Men animated series from the 1990s. I grew up on this series. I was introduced to modern X-Men with this series. It was lifeblood to a young comic geek like me. So I say bring it on!

The plan is to revive the series and pick up from where it left off. I think it’s a weird choice, but I suppose it makes sense. It’s obviously not the first TV series to do such a thing. And the X-Men’s introduction into the MCU is still undecided. Why make a brand new cartoon from scratch if it’s going to possibly conflict with the MCU X-Men? So X-Men ’97 should be a simple nostalgia trip, using classic comic book stories and characters to keep a show going. And more than two decades of X-Men comics have come and gone since 1997, so who and what are some modern X-characters and concepts I’d like to see?

Join me after the jump for some ideas I would personally love to see translated into the classic cartoon. And please share some of your own in the comments!

6. Sentinel O*N*E*

Sentinel O*N*E* was a short-lived venture in the wake of “No More Mutants” in which the government commandeered a bunch of Sentinels and turned them into mechs with human pilots in order to “protect” the remaining mutant population. I think that’s a natural progression of Sentinels in the X-Men animated series. We had them in their most basic form at the very start of the series, and we had a couple Master Mold episodes. If they’re going to bring back Sentinels, I think O*N*E* would be a great next step. It’s less complicated than Grant Morrison’s take on the Sentinels.

5. Stacy X

Stacy X is one of my favorite modern X-Men despite her less-than-stellar career in the comics. She’s a badass snake woman who doesn’t take anybody’s crap. She’s got a unique power, she’s got a unique look, and would make a neat new addition to the classic 90s X-Men. There are a ton of modern X-Men the show can introduce, but instead of being predictable, they should get weird with it.

4. Onslaught

Onslaught isn’t exactly modern. He first came to prominence in about 1996, so right at the tail end of the cartoon. But the original animated series never touched upon him at all. And if they need a new storyline for Professor X and Magneto, then Onslaught is the way to go. He’s big, he’s bad, he takes the entire X-Team to defeat, and he’s built from the very well established relationship between Xavier and Magneto that the cartoon used plenty of times. And with two decades of hindsight, surely the creators can come up with the best Onslaught story of all time.

3. Banshee’s X-Corps

Speaking of short-lived, largely forgotten storylines, there once was a couple of comics where Banshee formed a paramilitary version of the X-Men, wherein he employed several villains and tried to rule European mutantdom with an iron fist. The regular X-Men showed up and shut things down, especially after it was revealed that Mystique was manipulating things from the inside. I think this would be a fun storyline for an episode, and would make great use of a lot of side characters that already existed in the cartoon, like Mystique, Blob, Avalanche and Multiple Man, if we use the comics roster.

I mean, I would be perfectly happy if X-Men ’97 just kept using the 90s-era X-Factor like in that one episode, but if that can’t happen, I need them to use Multiple Man in other ways.

2. ForgetMeNot

ForgetMeNot is such a weird and fun character. He’s a mutant whose power causes people to completely forget about him the moment they look away from him. The joke is that he joined the X-Men some time ago, but everybody forgets about him. The only one who didn’t was Professor X, who gave himself a mental reminder once a day to remember him and check in on him. Well, Professor X ends the animated series by getting shipped off to the Shi’ar galaxy. Without him around, now seems like a great time to introduce ForgetMeNot in a fun, standalone episode.

1. Maggott

If any modern X-Men get introduced into the new revival, my #1 choice is Maggott. I love me a good Maggott. He’s having a bit of a revival right now and I am here for it. To me, Maggott is the perfect representation that mutant powers are not all god-like control of the weather. Sometimes your digestive system is transformed into a pair of semi-sentient slug monsters that burrow in and out of your belly. He’s just plain neat.

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