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X-Men: The Animated Series Stars on Legacy, Recording in Canada and Returning for X-Men ’97

The original X-Men series was voiced by a Toronto cast. X-Men ’97 continues that story, and several original actors returned to their roles.
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X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran for five seasons from 1992 to 1997, was voiced by a cast recorded in Toronto, and X-Men ’97 is a direct continuation of that story rather than a reboot. Several of the original voice actors returned. As of a Los Angeles Times report published July 10, 2026, X-Men ’97 was in its second season, had been renewed through a fourth, and the cast had begun recording the third. Those season details are dated to that report and may have changed since.

Where the original series was recorded

Lenore Zann, who voiced Rogue, and George Buza, who voiced Beast, both told MobileSyrup in a March 14, 2024 interview that the original show’s voiceover was recorded in Toronto with local actors. Their accounts are the main first-hand source for the recording setup, so the details below are what the performers remember, not a production document.

The shared booth and the radio-drama model

Zann recalls the original cast recording together in the same booth, each performer working around a separate microphone. She compared the process to a radio drama, because the actors could react to one another in real time rather than recording alone against a script. That ensemble method is the part of the Toronto story that most clearly shaped how the early episodes sound.

Cassettes sent to Los Angeles

Buza describes a pipeline that was far slower than modern remote sessions. Recordings were put onto tape and then sent to Los Angeles, because the studios could not yet transfer a session digitally and send it across immediately. In his words, “everything got sent down on cassettes, and they don’t even exist anymore, except in the hands of collectors.”

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Zann also made a point that is easy to miss: the Canadian cast only learned how far the show had travelled around the world recently. In her words, “we had no idea, until just recently, the extent to which our show has reached people all around the world.”

Distributed sessions for the new series

The recording arrangements for X-Men ’97 are different. Zann described current work taking place in different cities depending on the actor, including her own sessions in Halifax. That describes how the performers are recorded now, not how every session in the revival was run, and it should not be read as a claim that the entire cast works remotely.

Continuation, not a reboot

Disney’s executive producer Brad Winderbaum has been direct about the show’s relationship to the original. He said Kevin Feige wanted the original theme song and the original cast as conditions for continuing the series. In his words, “X-Men ’97 isn’t a reboot, nor is it a remake of the original show. Rather, it’s a continuation, picking up immediately after the final events of X-Men: The Animated Series.”

Winderbaum also described the creative team’s effort to keep a nineties look, including flat-space storytelling, bold colours and movement that runs largely along the x and y axes. The sources differ slightly on timing. Disney says the new series picks up immediately after the original finale, while D23 places it a few months after the original series’ events. Both agree that it is a sequel to the same story, not a fresh start.

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Who returned, and who did not

The cast connection is specific. The following table covers the roles named in Disney’s announced X-Men ’97 cast and in the Los Angeles Times coverage. It does not list every performer from either production.

Character Original series (1992–1997) X-Men ’97
Wolverine Cal Dodd Cal Dodd
Rogue Lenore Zann Lenore Zann
Beast George Buza George Buza
Storm Alison Sealy-Smith Alison Sealy-Smith
Cyclops Norm Spencer, who died in 2020 (per the Los Angeles Times) Ray Chase

Cal Dodd, who has voiced Wolverine since the original series, told the Los Angeles Times: “I was so happy because when I first created the voice of Wolverine in ’92, he became very quickly like my brother or my right arm.”

Cyclops is the one role where the voice changed hands because of an actor’s death rather than a creative decision. Ray Chase took over the part for the new series.

Original series versus X-Men ’97 at a glance

Point X-Men: The Animated Series X-Men ’97
Run or premiere Five seasons, 1992–1997 (Television Academy, 2024) Premiered March 20, 2024 on Disney+ (Disney Plus Press, 2024)
Episodes in first season Not stated in the sources reviewed Ten episodes (Disney Plus Press, 2024)
Recording setup Ensemble booth in Toronto; tape sent to Los Angeles (Zann and Buza, MobileSyrup, March 2024) Actor-by-actor sessions in different cities, including Halifax (Zann, MobileSyrup, March 2024)
Status as of July 10, 2026 Concluded after five seasons Season 2 arrived; renewed through Season 4; Season 3 recording begun (Los Angeles Times, 2026)

Figures worth knowing

  • Five seasons, 1992–1997: the original run, as stated in a 2024 Television Academy interview.
  • Four million views in the first five days: this figure appears in a question put to Ray Chase in the same Television Academy interview. It is framed as a premise from the interviewer, not as a measurement Chase confirmed, and it does not establish how Disney counted views.
  • Ten episodes in the first season: stated in Disney’s 2024 announcement.
  • March 20, 2024: the premiere date given in Disney’s 2024 announcement.
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Where to watch and what to read next

Disney identifies Disney+ as the streaming home for X-Men ’97. Catalog access varies by territory, and the sources here do not establish what is available in any particular country.

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For the history of the original show, Ray Chase told the Television Academy that he learned it from a book by the original showrunners, Eric and Julia Lewald. He referred to it in the interview as Previously on X-Men. That is the only short title given in the interview, so check the full title and edition before ordering.

For a performer’s perspective, Lenore Zann published A Rogue’s Tale: A Memoir in 2024. The title is named after an original-series episode that centres on Rogue’s backstory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is X-Men ’97 a sequel to the original series?

Disney says it is a continuation that picks up immediately after the original finale, not a reboot or remake. D23 places it a few months after the original series’ events, so the two sources differ on exact timing.

Did every original voice actor return for X-Men ’97?

No. Several original performers are named in the announced cast, including Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza and Alison Sealy-Smith. Cyclops is voiced by Ray Chase after the original Cyclops actor, Norm Spencer, died in 2020.

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