‘They Were the Lines From the Original Show’

You would think the original voice actors from X-Men: The Animated Series wouldn’t have to prove their chops when it came to reprising their roles in the recently released X-Men ’97 but, as it turns out, they had to audition for their spots just like everyone else. Per IGN, various cast members of X-Men ’97 detail how they had to audition for the revival series, despite being vocal talent on the popular X-Men: The Animated Series from back in the day.

Cal Dodd, who voiced Wolverine, and Lenore Zann, who voiced Rogue, reveal that they weren’t offered the same roles that they had on the original show and that they had to go through the audition process to be officially cast. Both voice actors went through confusing moments when it came to getting back into the world of the X-Men. Here is what Dodd had to say about his audition process:

“The scene that they picked [for the audition] was so obscure. [I asked myself] ‘What do you mean? He doesn’t yell at anyone here, or scream or be ignorant or be funny, underhanded funny?’ [The scene is when Wolverine left the X-Men] and the people are all celebrating because Wolverine fishes better than everyone. The Chief turns to him and says, ‘the people are very happy, and it’s all because of you.’ [Wolverine] said, ‘So do I. I feel happy too. I feel, I don’t know, at peace.’ But that’s a scene that they picked me to do, and so unlike Wolverine, the voice that he ends up doing all the time. I found that interesting.”

When it came to securing Zann, she was notified that Disney was interested in getting in touch with her about a role, but they weren’t really letting on what the role was for. It wasn’t until she read the lines that she realized it was an X-Men project:

“They were the lines from the original show and I was like, ‘Oh! It’s Rogue! I’ll just do Rogue.’

And so I did it, and sent it off. And about a month later, three weeks later, I got a call saying, ‘Yeah, the producers want to meet with you on Zoom.’ So then we went on Zoom, and they got me to read with Meredith on Zoom, and then at the end of it they were like, ‘Oh my god, Lenore, we just love you. Would you please be in the show? Because we really want you in the show.’

I was like, ‘Absolutely! You got me.’ “

Several Voice Actors Return in the New Sequel X-Men Series

X-Men ’97

4.5/5

Release Date

March 20, 2024

Cast

Jennifer Hale , Chris Potter , Ray Chase , George Buza , Catherine Disher , JP Karliak

Seasons

1

In addition to Dodd and Zann, other cast members also returned to voice their same roles, including Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Christopher Britton as Mister Sinister, Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler, and George Buza as Beast. In the end, the series ended up being a mix of old school and new school, with fresh additions including Ray Chase as Cyclops and Holly Chou as Jubilee. Chou took over for Alyson Court, who is actually still involved in the new series voicing the Jubilee variant, Abcissa.

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X-Men ’97 serves as a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992-1997 and for 76 episodes. The new show continues from where the last series ended and depicts the X-Men facing new challenges while dealing with the loss of their leader, Professor X. The series debuted to glowing reviews, registering a 98 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while Disney+ revealed that the premiere episode hit 4 million views worldwide within the first five days of release.