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Summary

• X-Men '97 season 1's success led to 2 more seasons and an Emmy nomination.
• Director Emi/Emmett Yonemura shares insights into creating emotional and authentic storytelling.
• The challenges faced while producing X-Men '97 during a pandemic included team connectivity struggles.

X-Men '97 director Emi/Emmett Yonemura opens up on the return of the iconic Marvel animated show and how its first season paves the way for the future of the series. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline is still working on their X-Men reboot, Marvel Studios got a chance to not only bring a beloved classic but also create a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series in the form of X-Men '97.
X-Men '97 season 1 continues the mythology of this specific incarnation of the Marvel mutants, facing old and new threats in the world. While bringing a whole new audience into the X-Men: The Animated Series fandom, viewers of the iconic series were in for a lot of game-changing stories. The success of X-Men '97 season 1 has not only earned the series two additional season pick-ups but an Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program.
Related 10 Best X-Men ‘97 Characters Ranked Between Deadpool & Wolverine and X-Men "97, Marvel has shown that the mutants are in good hands, and the animated series did right by key characters.
3 Screen Rant recently spoke with X-Men '97 director Emi/Emmett Yonemura, who helmed several episodes of season 1, including episode 5, "Remember It," which marked the fall of Genosha, and the death of fan-favorite hero, Gambit. Throughout the interview, Yonemura reacted to their episode landing the Marvel show an Emmy nomination and how crucial it was to get the powerfully charged story right while honoring the entire mythology. Yonemura also shares some teases about X-Men '97 season 2, as well as touching upon season 3, as the show is changing its creative leadership.
Emi/Emmett Yonemura Gushes Over The Success Of X-Men '97 "I know that the whole team worked so hard on it." Close Screen Rant: I've to start with a major congratulations on the Emmy nomination for X-Men '97 for your episode. I was going 'Emmy for Emi, let's go!' Where were you when you got the news and how was your initial reaction?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: 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.

Getting Fan Feedback For X-Men '97's "Remember It" "We were all trying to be super sensitive about what we were doing." Are you still getting a lot of feedback from fans, as everyone is watching the show whenever they get a chance to. Are you still surprised to see how strong reactions are to "Remember It"?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: I still get lovely messages from people online just saying how much it touched them or meant something to them and I love that. I love that because as a fan, I know how much it would have meant to me, especially when I was watching the 90s show. It feels good to be able to carry that torch and continue it, especially to a new generation of people. It's quite the honor.

The whole first season was such a wonderful experience. But now that it's been a couple of months, people are still digesting it. It is something that you're looking back at and thinking, 'Oh my god, I still cannot believe we pulled this off,' and that you're also most proud of from season 1.

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: I mean, Genosha – honestly, we were all so nervous about it. We weren't sure because the first four episodes, we were having fun, like 'It's classic fun, everything's fine, guys, right?' And then halfway through [episode] five, you're like, 'Oh I forgot. I'm watching X-Men, and I have to get my tissues ready.' There's so much trauma involved that we weren't sure how people were going to receive it, because we just came out of a pandemic and I'm like, 'I don't know that everybody necessarily is ready for something super heavy.'
But at the same time, the world keeps going. We have genocides happening right now that it's kind of like, 'Let's tell the story.' I'm glad that we did tell the story, so it's something that I'm very proud of. That was very difficult, because we were all trying to be super sensitive about what we were doing, too. But then I'm also an energy vampire, and I was ready to just start feasting off of people's tears! [laughs]

Honoring X-Men: The Animated Series With X-Men '97 Custom image by Richard Craig Well, I hope you enjoyed it! You talked about how powerful X-Men: The Animated Series was to you. Was there something from X-Men: The Animated Series that, in a way, made you feel that when you were watching, you wanted to recapture for your episodes in X-Men '97?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Yeah, I say I grew up like a lonely kid. I think a lot of us, especially who were comic nerds and anime nerds, we're a bit lonely at first, especially before it became so popular. We were the unique ones in the corner who people kind of judged..

And now we're the cool people!

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Now we're the coolest and I'm like, 'Yeah, we did it. We did it!' But it was isolating as a kid and and having these characters, they were basically the friends that you could have. How do they overcome adversity? How do they work like a team together? It's like they ended up becoming like the friends in the support group that I needed.
When it came to then re-approaching the newer version as a love letter to that, I still want to continue this family that I love and who were there for me, and they're gonna have all their own traumas and soap operas like the rest of us. But there's something comforting in that too, of like, 'Oh, mom and dad – Cyclops and Jean – are fighting again, but this is what they do.' [laughs] There's something very to the core about X-Men that I think is just really fun to just always be connected to.

The Challenges Of Producing X-Men '97 Season 1 During COVID-19 "It was different for a little while, not being in proximity with your team." I always keep forgetting that you guys had to make season 1 during the pandemic. What is a challenge that people may not know about in having to produce this first season? Because you can feel how much you all put into it, but I feel, as viewers, we don't realize that it must have been very complicated due to all the restrictions going on at the time.

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: While it's wonderful to be able to work from home, to be with your family and your animals, because sometimes, when you're working in animation, you can work 12 hour days and sometimes not see your family! [laughs] What was really nice then is that while I get to have that, what's hard is now I don't have the Facetime with my team. There's a board artist that I've worked with, he's brilliant, Jalin Harden, and I've worked with him for years now. He was on Gen: Lock with me, and now we were on X-Men together.
[I] had not seen his face once, so [even] when we were always having Zooms, his camera was always off. Sometimes he'd have his mic on, and you realize that it's just one of those things that you don't realize how much it actually affects your day-to-day until you're in an office, doing a handout in person, connecting with somebody, seeing the reaction in their eyes when you have a note for them, where you're like, 'Let's really make this scene like this.' Now, I'm talking to somebody on a computer, so there's already distance there, but then there's no camera, and now I'm just like, 'Does he get it? Does he like it? What is he thinking right now?'
It was just one of those things, thankfully, because I'm a '90s kid. I grew up on the Internet then, so I'm kind of like, 'Eh, it's like chat rooms? All right, I can get into this.' But it was different for a little while, not being in proximity with your team.

X-Men '97 Director Offers Teases For Seasons 2 & 3 Custom Image by Yailin Chacon I can't wait for the Gen Zs who will be reading this will be like, 'Chat rooms, what were those?' I have to ask; because we just came off D23 where we got a little sneak peek at season 2. I know you can't give story details, but what episode of yours can we look forward to seeing in season 2?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Oh, well, I don't know that I can say what episode specifically yet, but let's just say that what they showed at D23, I've worked on, and I'm very excited that not only is it sprinkled out there now, but I get to get people excited about who they're gonna see now. I can't elaborate too much, but I'm very excited for the characters that they showed.

Was it exciting getting to see them in the Grant Morrison X-Men suits? Because that was something like, I've seen so many images of those comics in the past, and now we get to see them come to life in animation. Can you say anything about that?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: All I can say is, as soon as the higher-ups decided that those were the uniforms, I was ecstatic because I love those uniforms, and I love that run so that, for me, was just really cool to see Frank Quitely's art come to life.

I know X-Men '97 season 3 is somewhat in the works. I know we have a new head writer, have you had a chance to meet with them? What can you say about Matthew [Chauncey] coming on board?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Oh, he's lovely. I absolutely love working with him. He hasn't even been on super long, and he's already a super sweet, incredibly talented writer, so we're already having a blast over here, and I'm really excited for fans to kind of see what he helps bring to the table because it's amazing, he's a genius.

Every time I talk to you, I love seeing your background. I'm just kind of like, 'What do they have over there?' Is there something from your X-Men fandom that you hope to get to tackle in this incarnation of the mutants?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Honestly, there's so many good storylines, and I don't want to give any of my favorites away, but there are really good ones that everybody loves that I do think we will be touching on. There are so many fun things that I want to be like, 'Of course, of course!' But we'll talk again when season 2 is out. How about that?

I'm ready for it! Are you working on anything else outside of X-Men or is that your main baby right now?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: X-Men is my main baby right now, just because I like to give everything into it. But I'm hopeful for the future, and I'm really excited just to see, in general, what Marvel does. Because if Deadpool & Wolverine is any indication…wow. [laughs]

Reacting To Channing Tatum's Gambit Debut In Deadpool & Wolverine Custom image by Felipe Rangel I have to ask you, because a huge character who is in that film is Gambit, so what was it like finally seeing Channing Tatum becoming Gambit?

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: When they had teased him years ago, I was one of the people who was like, 'I don't know…' but then seeing him, by the time he said, 'Boom,' and all the explosions happened. I swooned, and I was definitely on board, I'm like, 'Okay, I'm kind of here for this!' Now, I didn't think I would be, but he nailed it for me, so I'm here for it. I loved it! [laughs]

I saw AJ LoCascio's reaction too, going, 'Why choose? All Gambits are valid,' and I'm kind of like, 'Okay, now we gotta get him to meet Channing somehow!'

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: Definitely, and can they both wear the shirts? Because that'd be pretty fun!

The fact that he has that cropped shirt, it is amazing to me, and he keeps wearing it at conventions so, and I'm just like, 'Okay, they made a mistake killing him off because this man is dedicated!'

Emi/Emmett Yonemura: That's what I love about it, it's not only everybody who worked on the show, but including the voice actors, we're all fans of it. It's amazing, I love that, as soon as that shirt came out, A.J. was right on top of buying it and wearing it to conventions! [laughs]

About X-Men '97 Season 1 Your browser does not support the video tag. 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 X-Men '97 other interviews here:

• Jake Castorena
• Emi/Emmett Yonemura & Chase Conley
• The Newton Brothers
• Brad Winderbaum
• Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm)
• Brad Winderbaum (X-Men '97 Season 1 Finale)
• Emi/Emmett Yonemura & Chase Conley (X-Men '97 Season 1 Finale)
• Lenore Zahn (Rogue)

X-Men '97 season 1 is streaming on Disney+
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