X-Men '97 Brings Back an Original Animated Series Cast Member... With a Twist

X-Men '97 debuted on Disney+ last month, and the new series is a huge hit with critics and audiences alike. The show is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 98% critics score and a 92% audience score. The series picks up right where X-Men: The Animated Series left off when it came to an end after five seasons in 1997. Many of the original voice actors have returned to play their characters, but not everyone is back in the same way. Alyson Court played Jubilee in the original series, but Holly Chou has taken over the role in the reboot. However, Court made a special appearance in the show's latest episode(s), "Motendo / LifeDeath – Part 1."

In the first half of the split episode, Jubilee celebrates her 18th birthday and ends up getting sucked into a video game system called Montendo alongside Roberto Da Costa. The game is run by Mojo, one of the X-Men's most fun adversaries who also appeared in the original series. As Jubilee and Roberto continue to fight in the game, they are hacked out by a mysterious masked woman who turns out to be an older version of Jubilee and the last remaining beta tester created by Mojo for the game. Older Jubilee goes by Abscissa, and she teaches her younger self that growing up is a positive change. The two Jubalees join forces to fight Mojo alongside Roberto, and ultimately defeat the villain. Jubilee and Roberto escape the game and share a kiss in the real world. 

X-Men '97 Producer Explains Why Retro Setting Was Major Advantage:

ComicBook.com's Phaze Zero podcast recently spoke with producer Brad Winderbaum, and he explained why setting the show in 1997 was an advantage.

"Well, actually, it was kind of liberating to be able to stay in the 90s," Winderbaum began. "It allowed us to go places that we could just do what we want. To be so iterative. Things that we couldn't do if we were more MCU adjacent like What If...? is. I mean, What If...? is like we're literally remixing the MCU. So, it's harder to introduce characters. Because you want to see them in live-action. Although, we do see Bill Foster as Giant Man in the second season. That's new!" 

Original X-Men: The Animated Series cast members Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) reprise their roles from the '90s series; returning cast members Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Chris Potter (Gambit), Alyson Court (Jubilee), and Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler) voice new characters.

X-Men '97 releases new episodes on Wednesdays. You can watch Phase Zero's interview with Winderbaum here.