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X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992 in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup

X-Men was originally to premiere over the Labor Day weekend in September; however, due to production delays, it was pushed to the end of October. The "Night of the Sentinels" two-part episode originally aired as a "sneak preview" even though it truly wasn't ready for broadcast. There were many animation errors in these two episodes, but the errors were later corrected when Fox re-aired the pilot in early 1993.


X-Men also stands as the longest-running Marvel Comics-based show, running for five seasons and 76 episodes. The second longest, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, lasted for five seasons and 65 episodes. Although produced by different animation studios, both series were set in the same animated universe, and the X-Men even made guest appearances on Spider-Man's show. (The second X-Men animated series, X-Men Evolution, does not share this continuity.)

After the box office success of the live-action X-Men movie in the summer of 2000, Fox began airing reruns of the cartoon on weekday afternoons. At first, only episodes that primarily featured those in the movie were broadcast. Later, the series was aired in proper order, but the series was pulled from the air in early 2001. Soon after, ABC Family and Toon Disney began airing reruns, due to Disney's buyout of all Saban Entertainment programs.


The show features an X-Men similar in look and line-up to the early 1990s X-Men drawn by Jim Lee, composed of Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, Professor X, as well as an original character, Morph (an adaptation of previous X-Men member Kevin Sydney). Though they were not part of the team as featured in the animated series, the following X-Men have all guest-starred in at least one episode: Colossus, Nightcrawler, Emma Frost, Forge, Havok, Polaris, Cannonball, Banshee, Iceman, Archangel, Longshot, Dazzler, Sunfire, Psylocke, Cable, and Bishop. Keen-eyed fans may also spot cameos by other familiar mutants, such as Feral, Rictor, and Blink.

A number of famous storylines and events from the comics are loosely adapted in the series, such as The Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, the Phalanx Covenant, and the Legacy Virus. The third episode, "Enter Magneto," features a confrontation at a missile base: this is largely based on the X-Men's first battle with Magneto, as told in their 1963 debut X-Men #1. The season four episodes "Sanctuary, Parts I & II," which involve Magneto creating an orbiting haven for mutants, were influenced by several storylines from the comics, chiefly the first three issues of X-Men (Volume 2) and the "Fatal Attractions" crossover.

Beyond faithfully recreating many of the popular characters and stories from the comic books, the series also dealt fairly openly with mature social issues. The ills of prejudice, intolerance, isolation, and racism were all frequent themes in the animated series, as they were in the comics. The series also deals with other social issues, albeit sometimes in subtext, that are not often handled by children's programming:divorce ("Proteus"), Christianity ("Nightcrawler" & "Bloodlines"), the Holocaust ("Enter Magneto," "Deadly Reunions," "Days of Future Past," and "The Phalanx Covenant"), AIDS hysteria ("Time Fugitives"), and even satires of television itself ("Mojovision" and "Longshot"). The Friends of Humanity, a prominent anti-mutant group that appears in the second season, bears great resemblance to the Ku Klux Klan.

In its prime, X-Men garnered very high ratings for a Saturday morning cartoon, and received wide critical praise for its portrayal of many different storylines from the comics.

Episode list

Season 1
  1. Night of the Sentinels (Part One)
  2. Night of the Sentinels (Part One)
  3. Enter Magneto
  4. Deadly Reunions
  5. Captive Hearts
  6. Cold Vengence
  7. Slave Island
  8. The Unstoppable Juggernaut
  9. The Cure
  10. Come The Apocalypse
  11. Days of Future Past (Part One)
  12. Days of Future Past (Part Two)
  13. The Final Decision
Season 2
  1. 'Til Death Do Us Part (Part One)
  2. 'Til Death Do Us Part (Part Two)
  3. Whatever It Takes
  4. Red Dawn
  5. Repo Man
  6. X-Ternally Yours
  7. Time Fugitives (Part One)
  8. Time Fugitives (Part Two)
  9. A Rogue's Tale
  10. Beauty and The Beast
  11. Mojovision
  12. Reunion (Part One)
  13. Reunion (Part Two)
Season 3
  1. Out of the Past (Part One)
  2. Out of the Past (Part Two)
  3. Phoenix Saga (Part One) - Sacrifice
  4. Phoenix Saga (Part Two) - Dark Shroud
  5. Phoenix Saga (Part Three) - Cry of the Banshee
  6. Phoenix Saga (Part Four) - Starjammers
  7. Phoenix Saga (Part Five) - Child of Light
  8. Savage Land, Savage Heart (Part One)
  9. Savage Land, Savage Heart (Part Two)
  10. Obsession
  11. Dark Phoenix Saga (Part One) - Dazzled
  12. Dark Phoenix Saga (Part Two) - Inner Circle
  13. Dark Phoenix Saga (Part Three) - The Dark Phoenix
  14. Dark Phoenix Saga (Part Four) - The Fate of the Phoenix
  15. Cold Comfort
  16. Orphan's End
  17. The Juggernaut Returns
  18. Nightcrawler
  19. Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape
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