The First Planned Animated X-Men Series Was Going To Be A Spider-Man Spin-Off

The 1980s TV series "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" was one of Marvel's biggest animated television hits from that decade. The phrase "Amazing Friends" was a clear imitation of the popular animated series "Super Friends," a show based on DC Comics heroes, but the formula worked, drawing in curious Gen-X kids from across the board. The series focused on Spider-Man (Dan Gilvezan), and he was joined by the X-Men's Iceman (Frank Welker) and a brand-new character known as Fire-Star (Kathy Garver). The original plan was for "Amazing Friends" to center on Spider-Man, Iceman, and the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, but that reportedly changed due to rights issues similar to those that prevented the Human Torch from appearing in 1978's "Fantastic Four" cartoon. So, Fire-Star was invented instead.

"Amazing Friends" was popular enough, however, that Fire-Star was eventually introduced to the Marvel Comics Universe as well. The show actually ran for three full seasons, which was a lot for an animated series broadcast on NBC on Saturday mornings in the early 1980s. It remained in reruns for several years and was often — as was fashionable — paired with similar shows. Indeed, in its second season, "Amazing Friends" aired in a block with an animated "Incredible Hulk" show, making the animated Marvel universe that much more unified.

In keeping with this, most episodes of "Amazing Friends" featured either an established Marvel villain or a famed hero guest star. Near the end of its third season, the series' creatives even folded in the 1970s versions of the X-Men. According to 1983's Comics Scene #11, Vol. 2, the X-Men's appearances on "Amazing Friends" were actually meant to function as a pilot for an animated spin-off series revolving around the mutants. Sadly, though, it ultimately wasn't deemed a good idea and was scrapped.

It should be recognized that "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" had the X-Men connection from the jump. Iceman was, as most Marvel Comics fans could tell you, one of the very first members of the X-Men going back to the 1960s. He was on the team with Cyclops, Marvel Girl (a.k.a. Jean Grey), the Beast, and Angel. The original X-Men made guest appearances in the 1982 "Amazing Friends" episode "The Origin of Iceman," which flashed back to the titular hero's early days with the X-Men. In the episode that followed, "A Fire-Star Is Born," Cyclops, Professor X (both played by Stanley Jones) and Angel (William Callaway) showed up as well, bringing along their new X-Men friends Wolverine (also Callaway) and Storm (Annie Lockhart). Wolverine, notably, was depicted as being Australian, even though the character is canonically Canadian. 

The X-Men characters returned, albeit in slightly more polished form, in the 1983 episode "The X-Men Adventure." In this installment, Spider-Man, Iceman, and Fire-Star needed help fighting a villain named Cyberiad (Dennis Marks), so they went to the X-Men for aid. The list of X-Men characters that guest-starred in this episode included Cyclops (Neil Ross), Colossus (John Stephenson), Storm (Kathy Garver), Nightcrawler (Jones), Thunderbird (also Stephenson), Sprite (also known as Shadowcat, played by Jennifer Kyle), and Professor X (Jones again). It's curious that Wolverine, a rather popular character, was not revisited for "The X-Men Adventure." Weirder still, the idea of Wolverine being Australian was later carried over to "Pryde of the X-Men," the 1989 would-be pilot episode for an unmade X-Men animated series.

Per the aforementioned Comics Scene issue, "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" was meant to lead directly into an animated X-Men series (one that was likely due to be released in 1984). The team's lineup was to include Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Thunderbird, and Professor X, as well as the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel, albeit going by the name Lady Lightning. The team would've also featured a character named Ariel, who was actually the X-Men member Kitty Pryde, a hero who could pass through walls. (Strangely, Kitty Pryde didn't appear in the famous 1990s "X-Men" animated series that actually did come to pass.) On top of all that, the proposed X-Men series would've included Videoman, a video game-like character who first appeared on "Amazing Friends," perhaps serving as a link to the hit series. 

Again, though, the show was never produced. Instead, it was passed over in favor of "more Smurf-like shows," as Comics Scene put it. It appears that light fantasy shows were considered a better bet than superhero cartoons back then.

As mentioned, the X-Men returned in "Pryde of the X-Men" in 1989, but that pilot proved to be a one-and-done. It wasn't until "X-Men: The Animated Series" came along in 1992, almost a decade after their "Amazing Friends" debuted, that the characters finally had a show to call their own. In fact, the series was so well-loved that it was eventually revived in 2024 with the sequel show "X-Men '97." That, of course, was after a long string of live-action "X-Men" films was produced by 20th Century Fox. Several characters from Fox's "X-Men" movies are now set to return in "Avengers: Doomsday," a Marvel Cinematic Universe film that may help relaunch the X-Men in live-action. Time will tell.