Many Shows Could Learn From the Relentless Pace of X-Men '97

How familiar are you with the Surf Dracula problem? Coined in 2021 by Twitter/X user Topher Florence, the meme became a popular shorthand criticism for the heavily decompressed storytelling that defines many modern streaming shows. An old broadcast show called Surf Dracula, Florence wrote, would be about a Dracula that surfs, something that you would see every episode. A modern Surf Dracula, however? Dracula would only be surfing for "5 min [sic] in the finale." 

Five years later, this is still an unfortunately useful phrase for a lot of television. It is not, however, how anyone would describe X-Men '97, one of the most relentless shows on television, a series happy to burn through a season's worth of plot in 30 minutes or less. It's exhilarating, like a TV cold plunge. 

Of course, there are many reasons why you might not know this. It is, for one, a Marvel superhero show at what might be the lowest point in a decade-plus of superhero dominance in pop culture. It's also flagrant nostalgia bait, both for millennials who miss the '90s more broadly, and specifically for millennials who grew up watching X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired on Fox for five seasons from 1992-1997. None of this screams "accessible" — in fact, a sequel series to a 30-year-old cartoon you may or may not have watched might feel downright hostile. However, it's also a TV experience that is quite unlike anything else streaming right now, and its aggressive pace and absolutely packed episodes are a big part of the appeal. 

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Let's dispense with some understandable concerns: While it is a sequel series to X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men '97 does not require that you have seen any of that show. The series is effectively its own story, and while it's true to the tone of its predecessor, it doesn't share its limitations. The old series was made for children, to sell toys; its writers and producers worked very hard to make an uncommonly good kids' show that adapted a ton of fan-favorite comic books into animation, but its potential for dramatic heft is limited by the target demo. The logline — people called mutants who are born with strange gifts fight for equality in a world that hates and fears them — is all anyone needed to know. Every episode dramatizes that core conflict in some way. 

X-Men '97 isn't necessarily an Adult Show — though it's got a fair share of stuff that would never fly on the prior series — but it is made with the understanding that adults will be most interested in it, and it trusts them to keep up. This is where the appeal starts to become clear, and it's hilariously similar to what drew kids to the show's predecessor: X-Men '97 is all about giving you a nonstop parade of cool stuff to gawk at. Don't know what a character is named, or what their deal is? Don't worry about it. Doesn't their costume look sick? 

This may sound superficial, but it's actually a canny balancing act from the showrunners: 20-30 minutes of screentime can only support so many character arcs, so a given episode of X-Men '97 is only really about one or two heroes or villains. X-Men comics, however, are known for having dozens and dozens of wonderfully distinct characters, and half the fun of X-Men '97 is getting to meet a bunch of them, if only in passing. This compromise is also the reason why X-Men '97 burns through so much plot so quickly. In its second season, which just kicked off on July 1, the show's cast has been scattered across time, which means the writers are really letting things get wild. Stories are happening in three different eras, two entirely new teams of heroes are introduced, classic comic book stories are being burned through at a gleeful pace. Imagine if a whole A Song of Ice and Fire novel were just two episodes of Game of Thrones. That's how fast we're moving. It's exhilarating.

A lot of this would be poor form for deep, involved storytelling, and it helps that X-Men '97 is mostly an action show with light soap operatics and a dollop of philosophizing. Thus far, it's managed the balance quite well, with a first season offering a surprisingly nuanced riff on X-Men's core debate of how prejudice should be dealt with by the oppressed. Its second season is only just getting underway, but it's working in a classic sci-fi mode, tempting its cast with the opportunity to rewrite history and make a more equitable present. 

Please understand: The wheels could come off of this thing at any moment. There are times, especially with the destination for the second season unknown, when X-Men '97 doesn't seem to have the firm hand at the stick that a jet engine cranked up this high really needs. But the series has stored up enough goodwill with its astonishingly deft first season, proving that there are solid fundamentals here beyond the Oceans' Eleven-esque fun of meeting a new character, seeing why they're cool in a single scene, and then moving on to the next step of the job at hand. 

But knowing that everything could fall apart is part of the fun: Television can be reckless, exuberant, a thrill. It can feel like falling without a parachute, if it wants to. And the best part of watching X-Men '97? I have no idea who'll catch me, but I'm sure it'll be cool as hell. 

New episodes of X-Men '97 premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.