Credit: X-Men ‘97, Disney+
The many (many, many) revivals and reboots released over the past decade is a trend that suggests we’ve run out of new ideas, but a small handful of these projects truly do make the case that a trip to the past doesn’t need to feel like retreading old ground.
Over on Disney+, X-Men ‘97 has succeeded by grabbing hold of everything kids loved about the ’90s cartoon and dragging it into the present, carrying on as though no time had passed but not ignoring the ways the world has changed for oppressed minorities living in the 2020s. It’s also (and this is no small thing) completely unashamed of its roots, making the most of its outsized villains and colorful world. If you’re looking for more comic book shows that deliver the same depth and fidelity to their source material, here are 10 to watch next.
Masters of the Universe (2021–2024)
There’ve been a lot of He-Man riffs over the last couple of years, to greater and lesser degrees of success (the memory-holing of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power by Netflix is a crime for which someone should go to jail). Kevin Smith’s trip to the world of Eternia plays in the X-Men ‘97 sandbox by offering up a strict continuation of the original animated series, broadening and deepening the older show’s themes while staying true to Masters mythology—of which there’s plenty. The first season, Revelation, follows up on the seemingly final battle between He-Man (Chris Wood) and Skeletor (Mark Hamill) by sending Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on a quest to restore magic and discover her own origins, following up on some hints dropped back in the 1980s. You’ll find the series on Netflix split into Revelation and Revolution, but it’s all the same show. Stream Masters of the Universe on Netflix.
Castlevania (2017–2021)
The gorgeously animated series largely adapts the third Castlevania game from way back in 1989—a prequel, and so not an unreasonable starting place for the sprawling franchise (material from other games does come into play later in the series). Here, the vampire Dracula (aka Vlad Țepeș) sees his wife burned at the stake and vows vengeance on all of Wallachia, with monster hunter Trevor Belmont, magician Sypha, and Dracula’s own son Alucard opposing him. It’s a surprisingly serious and thoughtful take on a video game property about vampires, and only gets better as it progresses—even into its own sequel series, Nocturne. Stream Castlevania on Netflix.
Young Justice (2010–2022)
Not a revival of anything in particular, but still a show that captures some of the depth of its comic book source material, this was the little cartoon that could—it was canceled after two seasons way back in 2013, picked up by the long-defunct DC Universe streamer for season 3, and then got a final season as an HBO Max original. There’s a reason it hung in there, even without the name recognition of some of DC’s other stuff: it’s an impressively animated series that draws from any number of comic sources while scrupulously developing its characters, blending action and soap-opera drama in the best tradition. If X-Men ‘97 scratched an itch for serialized superhero storytelling with real emotional stakes, Young Justice is one of the best places to go next.
