Disney Keeps Details About Theo James' X-Men '97 Character Sparse
If you grew up in the '90s, there's no way you could have escaped the cultural impact of "X-Men: The Animated Series." Alongside fellow Fox Kids superhero shows "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Spider-Man," the X-Men's animated adventures represented a true high point for superhero animation at the close of the century. Of course, it helped that the mutant team came armed with one of the most undeniably cool theme songs of all time. But the show itself was, much like the aforementioned Batman and the Spidey cartoons, memorable for not treating kids like dummies and including some pretty mature storylines and themes. As such, "X-Men: The Animated Series" left an indelible mark on kids around the globe with its 1992-'97 run.
Now, Disney is capitalizing on that popularity with "X-Men '97," which is set to debut on the Disney+ streaming service on March 20, 2024. Ahead of the release we've had the "X-Men '97" trailer which came packed with several Marvel comic Easter eggs and reassured legions of fans that Disney and the newly-minted Marvel Animation are staying faithful to the look and feel of the original series.
But amid all the excitement, there are still some big questions surrounding the upcoming series. What does it mean that Jean Gray is pregnant? Is Professor X really dead? And who the heck is Theo James playing? Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the "White Lotus" season 2 star has been cast in "X-Men '97," but the role itself remains a mystery.
Theo James is confirmed, his character is not
In February 2024 the voice cast for "X-Men '97" was officially confirmed. Sadly, the original Cyclops voice actor, Norm Spencer, passed away in 2020, and has been replaced by Ray Chase for the Disney+ series. Luckily, Chase is so good at mimicking Spencer's timbre that many fans were completely unaware it was a different actor when the trailer dropped. Alongside Chase, Alison Sealy-Smith returns from the original series to voice Storm, as does OG Wolverine voice actor Cal Dodd. Jennifer Hale will voice Jean Grey, JP Karliak plays Morph, and Lenore Zann returns as Rogue. George Buza is back as Beast, while new addition A.J. LoCascio will voice the modern incarnation of Gambit/Remy LeBeau. Holly Chou plays Jubilee/Jubilation Lee, Isaac Robinson-Smith plays Bishop/Lucan Bishop, and Matthew Waterson voices Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr. Rounding out the cast is Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler, alongside Chris Britton as Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex.
So, where the heck does Theo James fit in? The 39-year-old British actor previously starred in "Divergent" and its two sequels before gaining significant attention and an Emmy nomination for his role in "The White Lotus" season 2. But his casting in "X-Men '97" is intriguing as he's the only actor who isn't necessarily known more for his voiceover talents. While his character remains a bit of a mystery, showrunner Beau DeMayo, who worked with James on Netflix's animated film "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," did tell Entertainment Weekly, "It is a fan-favorite character, I think, and it will surprise people." That's all well and good, but it doesn't really narrow things down too much. Predictably, however, the internet has some ideas about who James will be voicing on the show
The internet has some theories on who Theo James is playing
Theo James' casting is interesting for the aforementioned reason that he's not necessarily known for his voice acting — though this is far from his first voiceover role. That said, it could easily be the case that Beau DeMayo had a good experience working with James on "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf" and simply called on his former colleague to help with the new show. But that's not as fun an explanation as the various theories being expounded on the internet.
By far the most exciting of these theories is the idea that James will actually be portraying a live-action character that happens to crop up in the X-Men's animated timeline as a result of some multiversal shenanigans, à la Donlad Glover as a live-action Prowler in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." "X-Men '97" is not officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but with Disney now owning the rights to all the Marvel properties previously owned by Fox, there's every chance there could be some MCU crossover moments.
But if James is playing a live-action character, who could it be? Well, some Redditors have suggested the English actor could be portraying Brian Braddock, aka Captain Britain, with one user noting, "The Captain Britain Corps is all about the multiverse ... my money is on [James] being Brian and crossing over to live action." That prediction was echoed by other users, one of whom put things fairly succinctly: "My guess is that he's Captain Britain. Heavy X-Men connections. Heavy multiverse connections. Untapped live action potential. Notable British actor. Missed opportunity otherwise."
If James isn't playing a live-action character, there are other possibilities
Of course, just because Theo James is known for his live-action performances, doesn't mean he's necessarily playing a character that either is, or could become, a live-action role. Other "fan-favorite" characters could include Apocalypse, Archangel, Mojo, Colossus, Omega Red, Juggernaut, or Sabretooth. There have even been suggestions that James is playing Havoc, Longshot, or even X-Men founding member Iceman, who didn't feature too heavily in the original animated series and could finally be getting the animated attention he deserves.
Otherwise, fans appear to think James could be playing a Deadpool variant. That might seem like a strange prediction given Ryan Reynolds has come to embody the character for modern audiences and is currently gearing up for the launch of "Deadpool 3" later this year. But the character himself only showed up in an extremely brief cameo in the original "X-Men: The Animated Series." As such, fans have speculated that James could be voicing an animated version of the Merc with a Mouth — especially since "X-Men '97" does not share continuity with the MCU. If this turns out to be the case, it would no doubt help Disney build a little extra "Deadpool" awareness and hype ahead of Reynold's upcoming film, which looks a whole lot wilder than we initially thought.
For now, we'll have to wait to find out how everything pans out when "X-Men '97 arrives March 20 on Disney+.