Why X-Men '97 Brings Back The Mutants' Classic Marvel Comics Suits
Spoilers for "X-Men '97" follow.
In Part 1 of "X-Men '97" finale, "Tolerance is Extinction," Bastion's Sentinels crashed the party at the X-Mansion. Despite Wolverine and Nightcrawler holding them off, the mansion got pretty trashed.
So in Part 2, the X-Men go to an old base on Scotland's Muir Island (cue the bagpipes), once owned by Professor X's old friend Moira MacTaggert (who died in the Genosha massacre back in episode 5, "Remember It"). On Muir Island, the X-Men stock up on supplies and a new Blackbird jet. (Wolverine's themed "mutantcycle" is visible too, but they tragically don't bring it along.)
Since this is a back-up base, their costumes are out-of-date; these "new" designs are actually going backwards in comic history. In a nod to this, as they suit up, Cyclop asks a nonplussed Cable: "What were you expecting, black leather?", flipping a joke about yellow spandex costumes from the 2000 "X-Men" movie. The original "X-Men" cartoon also started in media res with the team already assembled, so them having gone through different costumes tracks.
"X-Men" #1, published in 1991, saw an aesthetic overhaul of the team, done by artist Jim Lee. The Jim Lee designs are the ones used in the original 1992 "X-Men" cartoon. The "new" costumes in "X-Men '97," meanwhile are the ones used from earlier in the 1960s and 1970s, when Roy Thomas and then Chris Claremont were writing X-Men. Former showrunner Beau DeMayo, addressing felled fan concerns that the X-Men would have totally new designs, said he felt his responsibility was to "shepherd" the characters, not reinvent them.
Also back in his classic costume, helmet and all, is Magneto, because he's once more the villain. But what about the heroes going to face him?
Cyclops and Jean Grey, The X-Men's First Class
Cyclops and Jean are Xavier's first pupils; the X-Mansion contains a portrait of his first class and they're all wearing uniform blue-and-yellow costumes. In the original Lee/Kirby X-Men run, that's what the team wore. It was only in "X-Men" #39 (by Roy Thomas and Don Heck) that they got personalized outfits. That's where Scott and Jean's "new" outfits come from.
Cyclops' suit mostly resembles his previous one (Jim Lee didn't do much innovation on his design). It has the same blue-and-yellow color scheme, but the headpiece covers his hair and there's no x-themed bandolier across his torso. It looks more like spandex, less like a tactical suit.
Jean's costume is completely different from her blue-and-yellow one. This is basically a green one-piece dress with a black belt and yellow two-triangles-shaped mask. In this outfit (shown back during "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in the original cartoon), Jean is known as Marvel Girl.
Speaking of blue-and-yellow, Morph ditches their brown jacket while new recruits Forge and Cable are also shown in the X-Men's signature colors.
Marvel Studios Animation
Storm and Wolverine's new looks on X-Men 97
The first X-Men member to get a Dave Cockrum makeover was Storm. Back in episode 6, "Lifedeath – Part 2," she regained her weather-controlling powers after losing them four episodes before (which itself echoed a shocking comic moment). When she regained her power, Storm was also able to grow out her hair and sport her black-and-gold costume.
Storm's costume was the one she wore during her debut in "Giant-Size X-Men" #1. She wore it onscreen in the failed 1989 pilot, "Pryde of the X-Men," but it wasn't her go-to in the 1992 series. It's skimpier than the full-body white suit (complete with shoulder pads) she had in the original show, but it has the same cape. She also now has straighter hair and a headdress. Storm is even seen wearing the black suit in the title sequence of episode 9 — it looks like this one's a keeper.
Marvel Studios Animation
As for Wolverine, the blue-and-yellow suit he wore during the classic series is his original outfit, worn when he debuted fighting the Hulk and under Cockrum's pen on "X-Men." His new brown-and-yellow outfit was designed by John Byrne and debuted in "X-Men" #139. Lee initially kept the brown suit for his "X-Men" overhaul, but he had Logan go back to the blue-and-yellow in "X-Men" #4, which is presumably why the cartoon didn't use the brown suit. In any case, I personally prefer Wolverine's brown costume, so I welcome the outfit switch if it's permanent.
Rogue and Jubilee on opposite sides of an X-Men divide
Magneto isn't the only one gone to the dark side in "Tolerance is Extinction" — Rogue has joined him. She, too, has a new suit.
Lee drew Rogue with the curly flow she's known for, plus her outfit of a green-and-yellow bodysuit with a short bomber jacket on top. Before that, when Rogue was a villain (and during her early days with the X-Men), she wore a simple green outfit — which was glimpsed in the original series episode "A Rogue's Tale" during a flashback to her checkered past. Her new outfit in "Tolerance is Extinction" looks most like Rogue's outfit during the 2000s (specifically in Mike Carey's "X-Men"); a hooded green cloak with white stripes.
As for Jubilee, she keeps her yellow long jacket and pink shades, but ditches her pink shirt and blue shorts for a black leather catsuit she picked out while shopping with Roberto during the last episode. She turned 18 back in episode 4, "Motendo," so her ditching her rather "90s teenager" outfit tracks. This particular costume looks like the one she had in the 2010 mini-series "Wolverine and Jubilee" (drawn by Phil Noto).
Sunspot finally gets an actual X-Men costume too, resembling the yellow-and-black uniform ones the New Mutants wore. Too bad he leaves the X-Men too soon to make it count.
The X-Men who don't get new costumes are everyone's favorite blue boys, Beast and Nightcrawler. Beast wasn't part of the Dave Cockrum X-Men line-up and Nightcrawler wasn't part of the Jim Lee one, so there aren't clear "before and after" costumes for them.
"X-Men '97" is streaming on Disney+.