As the cinemas pack in the crowds for the highly anticipated blockbuster movie ‘Wolverine – X-Men Origins’, the ever popular, animated incarnation of the iconic Marvel hero lives on. The previous three ‘X-Men’ cartoon series were huge in the 90’s, and this new series certainly reaches the high standard set by its’ predecessors. The show focuses strongly on the character of Wolverine, which only goes to extend the hype surrounding the menacing mutant hero, who is taking all of the entertainment headlines at the moment.
The show may be aimed at children, but I think we all know that one or two of us grown-ups have had a sneak peak at it ourselves. The recent popularity of the American action/drama series ‘Heroes’ only goes to prove that adults may not be so quick to lose their fascination with the super-heroic. Anyone who has visited the ‘BBC iPlayer’ recently will have surely noticed that ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ is constantly featured on the main page. I, for one, take this as an indication that it’s not just kids watching the show. The subject matter of the show is typically dark. The plot follows Wolverine as he looks to reunite the ‘X-Men’, one year after an explosion destroys the X-mansion. After being contacted from 20 years in the future by professor X, Wolverine learns of the chaos that would occur if the X-men gave up on their mission.
All of the classic X-Men characters appear in ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’, from Jean Grey to Magneto, and the series carries on the tradition of fantastic quality X-Men animation.