An X-Men '97 Movie Inspired By Akira Is Possible (If The Directors Get One Thing)
It's strange to think that the deaths of Magneto (Matthew Waterson) and Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) hit just as hard for some as the saddest moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, it's a big claim, but that's the kind of mark the animated series "X-Men '97" is making. The follow-up show to the original animated show continues to stun every week, and now, the show's directors, Chase Conley, Emi Yonemura, and Jake Castorena, revealed they'd love to deliver the same standard on the big screen if they only had the budget.
When asked by Inverse about the show's success and the direction a movie could go in, Conley stated, "First off, it would be a slam dunk," and it's hard not to argue the case. "I think that would absolutely be something the audience would want to see and we would want to be a part of," he added. Given the show's reception, it would feel like a smart move for the MCU. After the first two episodes were shown to critics, the "X-Men '97" Rotten Tomatoes score was a huge win for Marvel, and its success could change the future of Marvel mutants in the MCU. "With animation, the more time and money we get, the better it will be," Conley says. "That's just a fact."
X-Men creators are inspired by current competition for an Akira-standard movie
It's clear with "X-Men '97" that the scope stretches beyond what already comes across as a stellar Saturday morning cartoon. Eli Yonemura assessed the work so far, saying, "It feels like we're already making movie-level animation and events," explaining that with the right budget for a full feature, "X-Men '97" could match the likes of the Spider-Verse movies and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem."
The reassuring detail among all this is that the show's creators are looking back as much as they're looking forward with their impressive work. Yonemura referred to some groundbreaking animated feature films that worked as inspiration, and in the case of Season 1, Episode 3 — "Fire Made Flesh" and Season 1, Episode 5 — "Remember It," it's hard not to make comparisons. "One of our influences was '80s and '90s Japanese animation. 'Akira.' 'Ghost in the Shell.' Those levels. It's like: Hey, you want to give us the money and budget to do that for you? But for 'X-Men '97?' Gladly."
The voice of fandom is sometimes louder than any boardroom managing the bank balance for certain projects, though, and Jake Castorena hopes it's one that's heard. "If the love and the demand [are] there from the fandom, and Marvel wants to let us do it, it'd be great to bring these X-Men, these characters, this style, and this work to the silver screen."