"Honored And Flabbergasted": X-Men "97 Director Reacts To Beloved Gambit Episode"s Awards Validation
Summary
- X-Men '97 earned a major victory with an Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program in 2024.
- Episode 5, "Remember It," focuses on Gambit's tragic death, tapping into fans' nostalgia from the 1990s series.
- The episode delves into heavy themes of mutant existence and prejudice, setting up potential storylines for season 2.
The Marvel director behind X-Men '97 episode 5, "Remember It," reacts to the show's major Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program. With the return of X-Men: The Animated Series in the form of X-Men '97, Marvel Studios earned one of their biggest victories in 2024, as the Disney+ series became a major success. One of the most memorable stories of X-Men '97 season 1 was the tragic death of Gambit, as he sacrificed himself in episode 5, "Remember It."
Screen Rant recently spoke with Emi/Emmett Yonemura, who directed X-Men '97 season 1, episode 5, since their episode was submitted for awards consideration, and ended up earning the show a nomination in the Outstanding Animated Program category at the Emmys. Yonemura, who will be back for X-Men '97 seasons 2 and 3, shared how they found out about X-Men '97 being up for the Emmys, sharing the following:
Well, thank you so much for the kind words. I was on vacation. I was sitting on a boat, wishing that my parents didn't have any kind of connectivity. Because when you're on vacation, I have to stop myself from working, but then I get this text message from Charley [Feldman,] one of our producers and writers, and they let me know, they're like, 'Did you see?' I was like, 'See what? What are you talking about? I'm on a boat! I'm not worrying about the world right now." I was just blown away. I was really happy. It felt really good, because I know that the whole team worked so hard on it, and I know that, like the audience, loved it, and that just felt really good. I'm honored and flabbergasted.
X-Men '97 was one of three Marvel shows to receive Emmy nominations, with the other two being Loki and Echo. See Marvel's full list of Emmy nominations below.
Marvel Studios Show
Categories
Loki season 2
- Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie
- Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
Echo
- Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
X-Men '97 season 1
- Outstanding Animated Program
Related Every X-Men '97 Episode Ranked Worst To Best While it is safe to say that some X-Men "97 episodes rank better than others, one thing is for certain: the whole series was a Marvel masterclass.
1 Why X-Men '97's "Remember It" Episode Deserves All The Awards Recognition Close As much as X-Men '97 has garnered a whole new generation of viewers, it is always crucial to remember that this show is also tapping into the audience who followed X-Men: The Animated Series when it aired in the 1990s. The sequel continues the stories of all of these characters who have stuck with fans for more than three decades. Seeing Gambit's death after investing time and passion into X-Men: The Animated Series after 30 years made X-Men '97 episode 5 a devastating watch for viewers who have followed this specific incarnation of Remy LeBeau.
But "Remember It" is also a powerful episode about the existence of mutants in that universe, with the genocide of Genosha being very much X-Men '97's own world-changing tragedy. In a lot of ways, "Remember It" was the final loss of innocence for many of the beloved heroes, realizing once again that they live in a world that is still not fully safe for mutants. X-Men has, since its inception in the comics, been about the battle for mutant rights while also presenting an allegory for prejudice against marginalized people in real life, which is also why "Remember It" taps into some really heavy themes.
Whether Gambit's story is fully over remains to be seen as the X-Men '97 season 1 finale teased a potential resurrection at the hands of Apocalypse. If Gambit is resurrected in X-Men '97 season 2 as one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, it will definitely make for another complex storyline. But for now, time will tell when X-Men '97 season 2 will finally come out on Disney+, as 2025 is most likely to be when the show returns.
Catch every episode of X-Men '97 season 1 on Disney+.
X-Men '97 TV-14 Where to Watch stream rent buy Not available
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*Availability in US 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.
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