X-Men ’97 directors Jake Castorena and Emi Yonemura recently explained why Marvel Studios‘ revival of X-Men: The Animated Series needed its mature TV rating.
In an interview with IGN about the fifth episode of X-Men ’97, “Remember It,” Castorena and Yonemura discussed how the show’s TV-14 rating allowed them to bring actual consequences to the animated continuation that were sometimes absent in the original series, which was rated TV-Y7.
“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should as far as violence or showcasing stuff, because also when you show too much gory graphic-ness, it tends to desensitize the audience,” Castorena said on deciding how much violence to show in X-Men ’97. “Ideally our goal is to not have the audience become desensitized to the violence, but to be emotionally exhausted from it, to live in that true realm of how our characters are living with it.”
X-Men ’97 only shows violence if the story demands it
Castorena continued, “I daresay it wasn’t a challenge because, first and foremost, story over everything. If it doesn’t visually service the narrative, whether it’s violence or what we show or what we don’t show, it doesn’t go in . . . What does the story need for what moment and when and where is that line? That’s what we work together as a team to figure out.”
Yonemura also pointed to the changing times as another reason why the TV-14 rating was warranted, explaining, “I remember thinking at the time, even for the ‘90s, and I know that you look back at it now and it feels very PG by comparison, but I remember thinking that this has high stakes.” She added, “And I think for a lot of people, especially our modern community, our tastes are different and we can be a little bit more adult and respect that TV-14.”
X-Men ’97 is winning over new and old fans
X-Men ’97 is set one year after the series finale of X-Men: The Animated Series, “Graduation Day,” revisiting the iconic era of the 1990s as the X-Men — “a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them.”
Since its premiere on March 20, the Disney+ animated series has received glowing reviews from both critics and fans, holding a 98% critics’ score and 93% audience score, respectively, on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. X-Men ’97 has already been renewed for a second season, while a third season has been teased by Marvel executive producers.
The first five episodes of X-Men ’97 are available to stream on Disney+.
