With the release of X-Men 97‘ fast approaching, fans are looking back fondly on the original series. X-Men: The Animated Series is considered by many to be one of the best adaptations of the property and is credited with creating an entire generation of fans. However, prior to the 90s series there was a previous attempt by Marvel to make an X-Men show that never got picked up. It was Pryde of the X-Men.
Pryde of the X-men is a pilot that aired in 1989 but never got the green light to expand into a full series. Despite only being one episode, and not being considered as good as the show we eventually got, it does have a bit of a cult following for a few reasons. The main one being its awesome theme.
READ: Retro Review – ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ -“Night of the Sentinels”
As the title of the show implied, the story was told from the perspective of new X-Men recruit, Kitty Prude. At the same time, the X-Men were tasked with stopping Magneto from unleashing a comet on Earth that would wipe out humankind.
The pilot is kind of similar to the first episode of the 90s series, except Kitty Pryde is used as an avatar for the audience to introduce the X-Men instead of Jubilee. But Kitty isn’t as fun as Jubilee, and she also isn’t given the chance to do much other than scream for most of the episode.
A big highlight of the episode is the animation that was apparently done partly Toei Animation. It still looks pretty good and, honestly just from a visual standpoint, it might be better than the 90s pilot. For as good as the 90s show was, the animation had its share of problems due to budget reasons.
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Ultimately what brings that pilot down is the writing. What the 90s series may have lacked in animation, it made up for in it’s storytelling. Here, the plot is pretty straightforward and it doesn’t have the darker feel to it that the later show would. There are also weird things like Wolverine speaking in an Australian accent for some reason. I’m not sure if it was done to make him sound funny or make him sound cool but I don’t think either worked. It is ironic though that years later an actual Australian actor would go on to play him live action.
Overall, Pryde of the X-Men isn’t anything special and it is probably for the best that this wasn’t the show that ultimately got made. However, it’s got some charming elements to it and the animation still holds up.
If you haven’t checked it out, it’s worth checking out just to see what came out before X-Men: The Animated Series. It’s also worth watching for the weird PSA starring Spider-Man at the beginning where he tells people to register to vote. While clearly important for the time, it’s very odd because the PSA is clearly directed towards children….who wouldn’t be old enough to vote.
The entire thing can be seen on YouTube.
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