THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR X-Men ‘97
Almost immediately after its release, Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys became the talk of the town with its dark and satirical take on the superhero universe. The series does not shy away from using violence and gore to its benefit but watching such horrifying scenes unfold right in front of our eyes episode after episode has certainly made the audience a little indifferent to it all.
The series is still one hell of a watch, don’t get us wrong. However, it looks like it has some competition in town with X-Men ’97. Just five episodes in, the animated series has managed to excite, shock, and basically traumatize the audience. Supervising director Jake Castorena perfectly explained how they are able to do all this and more despite having a TV-14 rating.
The Boys Might Have to Take Notes from X-Men ’97
Episode five of the animated series saw the impending and infamous Genosha massacre take place which took away the life of many mutants. After witnessing the fates of many characters, including Magneto and Gambit, fans will agree that Beau DeMayo’s X-Men ’97 just took a dark and intriguing turn.
Perfectly using violence to its advantage, the series has proven that you do not need to overfill the episodes with blood and guts, like in The Boys, in order to leave the audience shell-shocked.
Talking to IGN, supervising director Jake Castorena gave an insight into the thought that goes on behind the scenes while creating these jaw-dropping episodes. As per him, less is always more.
“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should as far as violence or showcasing stuff, because also when you show too much gory graphic-ness, it tends to desensitize the audience. Ideally our goal is to not have the audience become desensitized to the violence, but to be emotionally exhausted from it, to live in that true realm of how our characters are living with it.”
He also stated that none of it was really a challenge for the team because, in the end, it was all about keeping the show’s story their priority. They didn’t want to overdo the violence if it had nothing to add to the story.
“I daresay it wasn’t a challenge because, first and foremost, story over everything. If it doesn’t visually service the narrative, whether it’s violence or what we show or what we don’t show, it doesn’t go in… What does the story need for what moment and when and where is that line? That’s what we work together as a team to figure out.”
The Boys’ audience may complain that the show has made them numb to most of the gore as they are now always expecting it. X-Men ’97 on the other hand, seems to have found the perfect balance.
Of course, the animated series cannot go over the top with the violence as it has a TV-14 rating, unlike The Boys’ TV-MA rating. Despite the difference between the two, it’s safe to say that the former has made it clear that it’s not here to joke around.
The Approach Seems to be Working for X-Men ‘97
Episodic director Chase Conley also chimed in during the conversation with IGN where he stated that the show expects the audience to feel all the emotions first-hand while watching. It wants to leave an impact on the viewers and wants to let them know that the stakes of having super-powered beings around one another are always high.
“You also want to create stakes. You want to feel lost. You want to set this stuff up so that it really feels as if you lost a character, but you also want the impact of, these are amazing super-powered beings that are in conflict with each other. And so there’s going to be fallout that comes with that.”
Clearly, this seems to be working quite well for the show as the latest episode has left quite an impact on the fans. Take a look at what they have to say about episode 5, Remember It.
Episode 5 of #XMen97 was just absolutely shocking and brutal!! Will be thinking about this for a while!! Buckle up people! You've been warned!
— DBreh'83 (@depling1983) April 13, 2024
#XMen97 episode 5 was amazing and dark. Whoa 🥺😢😭
— 😊☺️🤗🤓😎Andrew🇺🇲⚛️🎮🕹📺🍿🎟📼💿🎞📽📹🎥🎬 (@biohazardfan07) April 13, 2024
Hi, yes new fan as of today of #XMen97 WHAT THE HELL DID I GET MYSELF INTO??? I'M DEVASTATED AT EPISODE 5. Oh hell naw I can't sleep now.
— Prime Hedgehogs (@LeafyGreenKiwi) April 13, 2024
Its good they aren't shying away from violence…but also not going overboard with it either.
The show so far has had just the right amount to fit the tone for a slightly older version of the 90's series.— 7AM (@XxDA7amxX) April 13, 2024
"Emotionally exhausted from it." Yeah, they definitely accomplished that goal. I was experiencing a cacophony of emotions from that episode.
— #MusicDefinesMe (@theR5archives) April 13, 2024
There are a few more days before fans get to see what’s next in the lives of the mutants. It goes without saying that the wait will be absolutely torturing!
You can stream X-Men ’97 on Disney+ and The Boys on Prime Video.
