Batman: The Animated Sequence launched a number of spinoffs, together with the aforementioned Superman, the future-set sequel Batman Past, and Justice League. The legacy continues at the moment, not solely in Timm’s religious successor Batman: Caped Crusader, but additionally in each adaptation that tries to inform strong superhero tales for a common viewers.
X-Males: The Animated Sequence (1992-1997)
First, let’s handle the elephant in the room. Sure, X-Males ’97 technically resolved the Spider-Man: The Animated Sequence cliffhanger in the season one finale the place we see a glimpse of Mary Jane standing subsequent to Spidey, suggesting that the two did reunite and make their approach residence.
That out of the approach, let’s speak about what X-Males: The Animated Sequence did rather well: it introduced the comics to the lots. Whereas Batman: The Animated Sequence deserves reward for its financial storytelling, that method had largely been deserted in its supply materials. By the early Nineteen Nineties, superhero comics have been typically convoluted, cleaning soap operatic tales with difficult interpersonal relationships. Nobody did these sorts of tales higher than Chris Claremont, who began writing the X-Males in 1975, remodeling the workforce from Marvel c-listers into the largest heroes on the newsstand by 1992.
As an alternative of attempting to reinvent the wheel, X-Males: TAS adopted the chief, adapting Claremont’s tales and utilizing the current visible redesigns of celebrity artist Jim Lee. In some way it labored, bringing bonkers tales like the Mutant Bloodbath and Fall of the Mutants to the small display. It hooked a complete new period of followers. In fact the most pronounced successor to X-Males: The Animated Sequence is the Disney+ sequence X-Males ’97, which continues the storylines of the authentic present and heightens the political messaging. However X-Males: TAS additionally proved to executives that comic-accurate materials wasn’t anathema to common audiences, opening the door for our present leisure panorama, during which Disney produces billion-dollar diversifications of The Infinity Gauntlet and Secret Wars.
Spider-Man: The Animated Sequence (1994–1998)
Clearly, Spider-Man: The Animated Sequence owes a significant debt to X-Males: The Animated Sequence. Like his merry mutant cousins, Spider-Man obtained to recreate his overstuffed comedian ebook adventures on the small display. Nonetheless, much more than X-Males, Spider-Man: The Animated Sequence streamlined the comedian ebook tales in a approach that set the stage for future diversifications.
For proof, check out the approach the cartoon dealt with Venom. In the comics, Spider-Man obtained his black swimsuit whereas off-planet in Secret Wars. For some time, Peter wore his black swimsuit as his new costume, however finally returned to his blue and purple togs when he grew uncomfortable with having a symbiote. In 1988, 4 years after the black swimsuit debuted, new character Eddie Brock wore the costume and have become Venom.