10 TV Shows Like X-Men ’97 You Should Watch Next
The numerous (very, very numerous) revivals and reboots that have come out over the past decade suggest that we’re running out of new ideas, but a small handful of these projects actually prove that traveling back in time doesn’t have to feel like a retread of the same old plots.
On Disney+, X-Men ’97 succeeded by capturing everything kids loved about the ’90s cartoon and bringing it into the present, continuing to live as if time had stood still while still embracing the changes the world has seen for oppressed minorities living in the 2020s. Moreover (and this is important), it’s completely unashamed of its roots, making the most of its colorful villains and vibrant world. If you’re looking for other comic book series that have similar depth and fidelity to their source material, here are 10 worth checking out.
Masters of the Universe (2021–2024)
Over the past couple of years, a slew of He-Man parodies have emerged, with varying degrees of success (snubbing Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a crime someone should go to jail for). Kevin Smith’s journey into the world of Eternia plays within the framework of the 1997 X-Men , offering a strict continuation of the original animated series, expanding and deepening the themes of the older show while remaining true to the Masters mythology—of which there’s plenty. The first season, “Revelation,” continues the seemingly final battle between He-Man (Chris Wood) and Skeletor (Mark Hamill), sending Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on a journey to restore magic and discover her origins, expanding on some hints left back in the 1980s. On Netflix, you’ll find the series split into “Revelation” and “Revolution,” but they’re still the same show. Watch Masters of the Universe on Netflix .
Castlevania (2017–2021)
This beautifully animated series is largely an adaptation of the third Castlevania game, released back in 1989—a prequel, and therefore a perfectly reasonable starting point for this sprawling franchise (material from other games also appears later in the series). Here, the vampire Dracula (aka Vlad Tepes) witnesses his wife being burned at the stake and vows vengeance on all of Wallachia, while monster hunter Trevor Belmont, the mage Sypha, and Dracula’s own son, Alucard, confront them. It’s a surprisingly serious and thoughtful take on the vampire video game, and it only gets better as the story progresses—even in its own sequel, the Nocturne series.Watch Castlevania on Netflix .
Young Justice (2010–2022)
It’s not a revival of anything specific, but it’s still a series that captures the depth of its comic book source material. It was a small cartoon that managed to survive—it was canceled after two seasons back in 2013, then picked up by the long-defunct streaming service DC Universe for a third season, and then received its final season as an HBO Max original. There’s a reason it’s endured, even without the notoriety of other DC properties: it’s an impressive animated series that draws inspiration from numerous comics, carefully developing its characters, and blending action and drama in the best soap opera traditions. Watch Young Justice on HBO Max .
Cobra Kai (2018–2025)
The atmosphere is completely different here, but that’s unlikely to matter to kids of the ’80s and ’90s: before X-Men ’97, that was the show that best pulled off the impressive feat of breathing new life into a long-forgotten franchise without completely rebooting it (well, that and Twin Peaks: The Return ). Switching the focus from Ralph Macchio’s Daniel to William Zabka’s former villain, reaching his high school peak, was a stroke of genius, as was the introduction of a new generation of karatekas, all of whom are way, way too obsessed with dojo drama. It’s not technically a superhero show, but by the end, it definitely feels like a martial arts-themed Avengers .Watch Cobra Kai on Netflix.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2008–2009)
There’s a lot of Spider-Man content online, so let’s break it down: the original X-Men animated series had an idol in Spider-Man: The Animated Series , a show with a similar style and storyline. This isn’t that show, but rather an even better adaptation, which remains a cult classic after its short two-season run—so beloved that this particular version of the character (voiced by Josh Keaton) appears in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . In a way, it’s a return to Spider-Man’s roots, with Peter Parker in high school, maturing as a teenager, and then as a college student, facing the added challenges of his immense powers and enormous responsibility. Buy Spider-Man: The Amazing Spider-Man on Prime Video .
Commando (2024 – )
In this animated series, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, reprising her role from the DC films) assembles a special forces team to protect a foreign nation from the Amazonian sorceress Circe. Waller can’t trust real people, so her team consists entirely of monsters: The Bride (Indira Varma), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), and the aquatic mutant Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), as well as a Nazi-obsessed robot soldier and the rodent-like Weasel (both Sean Gunn). In short, a team of social outcasts led by a leader whose motives are constantly shifting. The series is extremely violent and has a dark sense of humor (even darker than X-Men ), but Gunn and company also infuse it with an impressive amount of heart. Watch Commando on HBO Max .
Doom Patrol (2019–2023)
In 1963, within a couple of months of each other, the “World’s Strangest Heroes” faced off against the “Strangest Superheroes of All Time”: one team battled the Brotherhood of Evil, the other the Brotherhood of Evil… Mutants. Both the X-Men and the Doom Patrol were led by a genius in a wheelchair, and both teams featured outcasts who perceived their abilities as both curses and gifts. Both comic book series faded after a few years, only to return with renewed vigor. Coincidence? Probably! But the similarities remain striking, even if the X-Men continued to exist, positioning itself as a galactic soap opera, while the Doom Patrol relied on its own strangeness. This is how characters like the non-binary Danny the Street (literally, street), paranormal investigators the “Sex Men,” Imaginary Jesus, and orgasm-inducing bodybuilder Flex Mentallo emerged. But all this weirdness is underpinned by superb, often emotional performances from the entire cast, including Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, April Bowlby, Diane Guerrero, Joivan Wade, Michelle Gomez, and Timothy Dalton, who play characters who experience immense trauma and guilt and, despite themselves, transform into something akin to superheroes. Watch “Doom Patrol” on HBO Max .
Gargoyles (1994–1997)
So, back to the cartoons and one of the other triumphs of ’90s television animation, with a suitably bizarre premise: gargoyles, once living creatures, were trapped in stone for over a thousand years before being brought to New York City from Scotland, where they awakened and became the city’s nighttime protectors. Like X-Men , the series placed a heavy emphasis on complex mythology, deep storytelling, and character development, with X-Men slightly outperforming X-Men in the latter department thanks to a slightly smaller core cast. The possibility of a sequel in the vein of 1997’s X-Men has often been discussed, but recent rumors suggest a live-action reboot is more likely. Watch Gargoyles on Disney+ .
My Hero Academia (2016–2026)
The plot of this acclaimed anime (based on the equally popular manga) turns the X-Men plot on its head: here, people without special abilities and skills (“Quirks”) are in the minority, like Izuku Midoriya—he’s even teased for what amounts to a disability in the show’s world, earning him the nickname Deku (meaning, more or less, “useless”). Nevertheless, he strives to become a hero and gets his chance when he impresses All Might, the greatest hero of all time, who knows a way to transfer some of his power to him. So Izuku heads off to Super High School, a good-natured outsider among his classmates. Coming-of-age revelations ensue, set against the backdrop of massive battles with supervillains. Watch My Hero Academia on Hulu , Netflix, and Crunchyroll.
Steven Universe (2013–2019)
Some of these series are aimed at a more mature audience than X-Men ’97 , so we’ll end with one that’s aimed at a younger audience but still develops into something no less epic. Steven Universe begins as a series of seemingly standalone adventures before, over five seasons and a movie, developing into an impressively rich and complex narrative. The main character, Steven (Zach Callison), lives in Beach City with magical, mineral-based alien “Gems” named Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Steven himself is half-Gem, and the series follows him as he develops his powers and discovers himself, along the way discovering that his ragtag group of companions are fugitives from an interstellar empire and that their apparent enemies may actually be future allies. Early producer Chuck Austen was a writer for the X-Men comics, and the series occasionally plays on classic comics. Watch Steven Universe on Disney+ and Hulu .