X-Men "97 Star Is More Than Ready For Rogue"s Journey In Season 2

Summary

• X-Men '97 picks up where the iconic animated series left off, with Xavier gone and the X-Men facing new challenges under Magneto's leadership.
• Season 1 sees the death of Gambit, driving Rogue on a quest for justice while introducing new heroes like Captain America into the mix.
• Lenore Zann, who voices Rogue, feels honored to reprise her role, emphasizing the show's relevance in teaching valuable life lessons to a new generation.

X-Men '97 continues the epic story of X-Men: The Animated Series, picking up where it left off with Xavier gone and the X-Men finding their way without their leader. When Magneto steps up and proclaims that Xavier wants him to lead the X-Men, a series of events lead to hardships for each of the mutants as new attacks lead to their enemies once again cultivating conflict between mutants and humans.
They suffered catastrophic losses, including the death of Remy LeBeau aka Gambit which sent Rogue into a grief-driven hunt for justice at any cost. This season also introduced other Marvel heroes, with Captain America making a brief appearance. The first season ends with the X-Men scattered across time needing to be rescued and Apocalypse finding one of Gambit's cards in current-day Genosha.
Related 10 X-Men: TAS Heroes We Hope Appear in X-Men 97 Season 2 X-Men ’97 included several characters who appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, but some classic heroes were notably absent from season 1.
Screen Rant caught up with X-Men '97 star Lenore Zann. She discussed reprising her role as Rogue and how it feels to see a new generation fall in love with the X-Men while so many adults have told her how it shaped their childhood. Zann also discussed Rogue and Gambit as well as Rogue continuing her search for justice in the second season.
Lenore Zann On Reprising Her Role In X-Men '97 "She is part of me, and I'm part of her." Zann has been the voice of Rogue since X-Men: The Animated Series began and she brilliantly reprised her role in X-Men '97. When asked if she felt any trepidation about playing Rogue again she was quick to answer, "No." She explained that Rogue is a part of her and she was excited to be back.

Lenore Zann: No. She is part of me, and I'm part of her. We go together. I say she's pulling on a nice fine, well worn glove. It feels so good. No, it's a treat to be back. And I'm really grateful that both Disney and Marvel brought me back. I mean, what an honor and what a gift.

Did your approach in voicing the character change at all after some time passed?

Lenore Zann: No, it's the same. I do the same thing. I mean, I am an actor first. I always say voice actors are actors. I started off in the theater, so I did a lot of theatrical productions. Then I moved into movies and television, radio dramas, and then I got into animation after all that. So I always approach a character the same way. I read the script. I figure out who she is, where she's coming from.
Of course I know her backstory because I did play her for five years. And so I just see where she was then, where she is now, and then I deal with each thing that happens and imagine what would I do if I was her. Also a lot of it is similar to me anyway. So I use my own emotions, my own memories, my own experiences, and I pour them into the character.

A lot of you guys that were part of the original X-Men: The Animated Series cast, had a background in theater. How did that help create that atmosphere and some of the iconic voices that we see in the X-Men series?

Lenore Zann: Well, it's interesting. Thanks for the question, because the original writers and the director, Larry Houston and [Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald] talked about how they had tried out some voice actors to begin with a pilot episode, but they weren't satisfied with it. They decided that they wanted to find actors who were theatrical, who had more experience in the theater because the scripts are rather Shakespearean-like, right? They're kind of like Greek dramas and tragedies and comedies, like Shakespeare.
So they tried to find people who had that kind of a background. And most of us who were cast in that original show have that background. They said, we don't want any cartoony voices. We want their voices, but if you have an accent, throw on the accent. So in my case, it was Southern in the case of Remy or Gambit, it was Cajun and et cetera, Storm African. So it was a treat, and we would come together and we would record in a circle with microphones so that we could see each other and we could look at each other and we could respond. We try to break each other up.
I mean, we bonded and then we'd go out drinking. So we had a blast back in the nineties. I haven't had a drink in 28 years, and I quit the last season of our show. So I mean, we just had a really good time. Now this time around, we're all in individual silos, but the original cast, we all know each other and the new cast are fabulous. They're such nice people. So it's great to now be getting to meet them in real life in Los Angeles because I'm now Rebased there. It's an honor and it's so much fun.

Lenore Zann Explains Why X-Men '97 Is Needed Now & Introducing It To A New Generation Zann shared how the lessons that the original X-Men: The Animated Series taught were so important, and now it seems the world needs those lessons once again, which makes this the perfect time for X-Men '97. She also reflected on being told she was a part of something that shaped so many people's childhoods and having fans of the original series now introducing their kids to X-Men '97.

Lenore Zann: Well, interestingly enough, we hadn't done that many beforehand. We did a few just before the pandemic and then the pandemic happened, and then we really just started up again last year. But seeing the fans' reaction, first of all to the fact that they say our series changed their lives back in the nineties and that we made their childhood.
We hear that a lot, that we made them feel safe, that it was a safe space where they could feel like it's okay to be different and isn't that beautiful. That we're all in this together, that we all belong to the same tribe for want of a better word. That is so important for young people to learn those lessons. It's sad that they have to be relearning them again now that there seems to be a pushback to something that was learned a long time ago, but we need to hear again.
So now that the show has actually come out and people are going gaga over it, it's been pretty amazingly overwhelming. But it's wonderful to hear their stories and to hear the parents talk about what it meant to them as kids and how it means so much to them again now, and to have them introducing their children to the show. Many of these kids are from age six on up and they're loving it. I say, Isn't it scary? And they're like, No, it's not.

Talking about reintroducing this show to a brand new era. I think it does such a phenomenal job of picking up where it left off and then bringing it right to the forefront of a whole new era. Can you talk about Rogue's journey and what surprised you the most about Rogue's journey in X-Men '97?

Lenore Zann: Well, I wasn't expecting it to go where it went for episode five, "Remember It". But I loved the journey. I loved the fact that she started off pretty much the same as she was when we left her in "Graduation Day". But then we introduced the Magneto thing. That's something that you find out about Rogue that a lot of people didn't know.
People who read the comics, they knew that she'd had a thing with Magneto, but a lot of them didn't. So it was kind of interesting watching it online when people would be like, How dare she? And then others would go, Are you kidding? It was in the comics. They even have a child together in some universe somewhere.

Age of Apocalypse.

Lenore Zann: And so it was really fun to see all of that. It's a little bit spicy, it gives Rogue a little bit more spice. And then in episode five, it's so emotional. And that's when she really learns how much she deeply loves Remy. And when she says to Magneto, who's fully expecting her to say after the dance and the palm to palm like Romeo and Juliet and the kiss and everything, I think he's expecting her to say, I love you and I'm always going to be with you. And instead she says, Thanks to the dance sugar, but Remy was right. Some things are deeper than skin.
I just personally, I love that moment. I did help write that line because I thought of it while I was at home going over my script before I went in the studio and I said, Can I try something on that line? And they were like, Yeah, go ahead. And I did that. And they were like, Oh, yeah, that kind of works. So they twiddled with it and stuff, but it works so well. And then for her to go into the deep grief and then the rage, it's a gift for an actor. It's a gift to be able to go to those places and to take the audience along and give them a cathartic experience.

Rogue Wants Justice For Gambit In Season 2 "She won't let anything or anybody stop her." Although she kept details close to the vest, Zann did tease a bit about what fans can expect from Rogue in season 2. She revealed that Rogue will continue to search for justice for Gambit and shared that she loved Rogue's journey while recording the new season.

Lenore Zann: That was a very clever question, and I'm not going to completely answer it other than to say there are Easter eggs in there for fans to follow up. In season two, I have already recorded season two and I love Rogue's journey. She is continuing on her journey and she wants justice for Remy, and she won't let anything or anybody stop her.

Does that include fellow X-Men?

Lenore Zann: I'm not going to say.

About X-Men '97 Close X-Men '97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
Check out our previous chat with Lenore Zann and our other X-Men '97 interviews here:

• Jake Castorena
• Emi Yonemura & Chase Conley
• The Newton Brothers
• Brad Winderbaum
• Alison Sealy-Smith

Season 1 of X-Men '97 is available exclusively on Disney+.

Source: Screen Rant Plus
X-Men '97 AnimationAdventureActionSuperhero X-Men '97 is the direct continuation of the popular 1990s animated series X-Men: The Animated Series. Taking up where the third season left off, Marvel's revival brings back famous mutants such as Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, and Nightcrawler, who fight villains like Mr. Sinister, the Sentinels, and the Hellfire Club.
Cast Jennifer Hale , Chris Potter , Alison Sealy-Smith , Lenore Zann , Cal Dodd , Catherine Disher , Adrian Hough , Ray Chase , Chris Britton , George Buza Release Date March 20, 2024 Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Disney+ Franchise(s) X-Men Writers Beau DeMayo Directors Jake Castorena Main Genre Animation Creator(s) Beau DeMayo Where To Watch Disney Plus Expand


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