Marvel Discusses Release Timelines for X-Men ’97 Seasons 3 and 4

Marvel is ready to cut the number of episodes in order to release new seasons more frequently.

Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum has revealed the release schedule for the next seasons of the animated series X-Men ’97. According to the plan, the third season will arrive on Disney+ in 2027, with the fourth season following in 2028.

The producer thus confirmed plans to switch to an annual release schedule for new seasons, despite the two-year gap between the first and second seasons. Previously, animated series producer Larry Houston explained the delay by citing production issues that the studio has already resolved:

“Fortunately, the production issues will not happen again. There was a huge time gap between the first and second seasons. Management has learned from this situation, so that will not happen with the third and fourth seasons. It was a one-time glitch.”

Larry Houston

Winderbaum himself still considers even a one-year gap to be too long:

“Even a year is too long. I remember watching X-Men every day after school and then having the episodes repeat constantly. But of course, now episodes can be rewatched on streaming, where everything is available at any time.”

Brad Winderbaum

The decision to speed up production has already affected the length of the animated series. The first season consisted of 10 episodes, while the second season has nine. According to Winderbaum, when working on Marvel streaming projects, they have to choose between the number of episodes and the premiere timeline:

“Now it is a completely different business, and streaming services have their own limitations. The number of episodes always matters, and sometimes you have to choose: release a season earlier or make more episodes? I usually vote for the earliest possible release, even if some stories have to be postponed to future seasons.”

Brad Winderbaum

The creators are currently finishing work on the third season and preparing storyboards for the fourth. At the same time, Marvel is already looking further into the future of X-Men ’97, as producer Eric Lewald previously shared that Winderbaum would like to run the animated series for up to 10 seasons.

Related articles