See an Exclusive Excerpt of X-Men '97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

The wait continues for Season 2 of X-Men '97, as it looks like fans will have to wait until 2026 for the series to make its return on Disney+. But there is one ray of light on the immediate horizon. Abrams Books is set to release X-Men '97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series, a new coffee table art book that provides an in-depth look at the making of the series. And now IGN can exclusively debut a new excerpt of the book.

Check out the slideshow gallery below to see two spreads from X-Men '97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series, including one focused on Gambit and another showcasing storyboards from the dramatic showdown with the Master Mold Sentinel on Genosha:

X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series is written by James Fields, with forewords by producer Brad Winderbaum and X-Men: The Animated Series showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald and an afterword by producer Jake Castorena.

The book aims to provide a very comprehensive look at the development of Season 1 of the animated series. It features a wealth of concept art, sketches, storyboards, animation cels, and other behind-the-scenes material. The book clocks in at 224 pages in length.

X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series is priced at $50 and will be released on July 1, 2025. You can currently preorder the book on Amazon. If its the classic X-Men: The Animated Series you're interested in, you can also order X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series.

In IGN's X-Men '97 Season 1 review, we wrote, "X-Men ’97 faced a tall order in recapturing the appeal of a beloved animated series, and it succeeds better than anyone could have expected. The new series is lovingly faithful to both the original cartoon and the comics that inspired it, yet also completely unafraid to blaze its own trail. It’s relentlessly fast-paced and action-packed, yet only rarely does that speed create any storytelling problems. After one season, it’s no stretch to say that X-Men ’97 is one of the best adaptations of the X-Men franchise ever, animated or live-action. The bar is set very high for Season 2."

Excerpt from X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series (Abrams) by James Field

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.