Is the X-Men franchise more popular than ever now?

[PhantomBoom]

X-MEN 97 was not that great of a hit inside general audience as some people think it was. Sure it wasn´t a flop obviously since it was Disney+ most viewed cartoon show since What if but it is way far from the popularity X-MEN TAS once had. Most people I know including my kids, friends of my kids and nephews don´t care about X-MEN 97 so far. I agree with someone who said that the biggest part of the success X-MEN 97 had is due to nostalgia of some adults who watched the old show.

Deadpool and Wolverine on the other hand seems pretty popular along general audience but most people doesn´t even associate this movie with the X-MEN.

This is such a weird comparison to be making.
Of course X-Men 97 isn't as popular as the original, the original is over 30 years old, played on network TV back when Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing, were many people's introduction to X-Men aside from the movies.
Meanwhile X-Men 97, has been around for 3 weeks, has only 3 episodes released, is on a streaming service and is a sequel to the original show for people who saw it.

[X-Logan]

This is such a weird comparison to be making.
Of course X-Men 97 isn't as popular as the original, the original is over 30 years old, played on network TV back when Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing, were many people's introduction to X-Men aside from the movies.
Meanwhile X-Men 97, has been around for 3 weeks, has only 3 episodes released, is on a streaming service and is a sequel to the original show for people who saw it.

No it is not a weird comparison if you read the question on topic. The question was if the X-Men franchise is more popular than ever now and the simple answer would be that they are not even near the popularity they once had.

I mentioned the X-Men TAS because that was when the X-Men were on their peak IMHO. The X-Men were everywhere(toys, video games, arcades) and they were the most popular super heros above any other. If someone think the X-Men 97 already made X-Men more popular than ever one is super overrating the success of the new animation so far.

Someone can argue that Deadpool and Wolverine trailler broke the views record and that was in fact huge although expected since both characters are very popular. The problem is that i don´t know if the general audience associate this movie with X-Men franchise.

[ChildOfTheAtom]

Someone can argue that Deadpool and Wolverine trailler broke the views record and that was in fact huge although expected since both characters are very popular. The problem is that i don´t know if the general audience associate this movie with X-Men franchise.

they are saying pretty much majority of FoX-Men are having cameos so they probably will by time it actually comes out

[raidensix]

Not as popular as compared to the 90s and early 2000s. I think the franchise still has not fully recovered from Marvel's attempt to push the Inhumans during the Disney-Marvel/Fox dispute. But it's doing a lot better compared to the Fantastic Four which used to be called "Marvel's First Family".

[Maestro 216]

Not as popular as compared to the 90s and early 2000s. I think the franchise still has not fully recovered from Marvel's attempt to push the Inhumans during the Disney-Marvel/Fox dispute. But it's doing a lot better compared to the Fantastic Four which used to be called "Marvel's First Family".

That time was so painful for X Men fans. No appearances outside comics and then FF had no books for 3 years.

[yogaflame]

Yeah, the babies are too young to remember the early 90's. Comicdom was dominated by the X-Men(had been for a decade by then), and then it spilled out into the mainstream hard with TAS. It was network tv, not a paid subscription streaming service. That was a far bigger audience(I've seen numbers as high as 23 million households, which would be nearly 6x of '97's best numbers). Nevermind all the merch, and toys, and games, and posters, and cards. 3 episodes of '97 have been great, and definitely brought X-Men back into the general conversation, but that in no way has come close to X-Men at their peak.

Even the 2000s can't compare, because while the Foxmen films did okay, they were not a huge cultural revolution like The Matrix was(in fact the black leathers was riding off of that franchise's look), nor even matched the performance of something like Raimi's Spider-Man. Same goes for Morrison's run vs. Claremont. Claremont was king for over a decade, the hottest books the genre had ever seen. 1991's #1 is STILL #1 all these years later in sales. Morrison's New X-Men was certainly a curiosity and sold well for the time, but not like the golden era days of Claremont. And TAS's ratings were far more impactful than Evolution's. So, while younger fans might relish the early 2000's, in context, they still weren't as powerful as the early 90's.

I think we are just at the beginning of X-Men reemerging. If the rest of '97 continues to be as good or even better than the first few episodes, then we are in for a treat, but it will take more than a niche animation show on Disney+ to match the '90's X-mania. The ratings on '97 have to reach a wider audience first. Then the MCU has to execute a very impressive, very successful live action X-Men project after Deadpool/Wolverine, which also has to be well executed and super successful financially and in terms of audience reception. And we need some amazing next generation X-Men video games(not just Wolverine ones). So, realistically, we're still a good 5-10 years off from an era that could eclipse the '90s. And that's assuming Hollywood and the wider mechanisms of this world aren't severely disrupted during that time.... which is assuming a lot these days.

[Gray Lensman]

Yeah, the babies are too young to remember the early 90's. Comicdom was dominated by the X-Men(had been for a decade by then), and then it spilled out into the mainstream hard with TAS. It was network tv, not a paid subscription streaming service. That was a far bigger audience(I've seen numbers as high as 23 million households, which would be nearly 6x of '97's best numbers). Nevermind all the merch, and toys, and games, and posters, and cards. 3 episodes of '97 have been great, and definitely brought X-Men back into the general conversation, but that in no way has come close to X-Men at their peak.

Even the 2000s can't compare, because while the Foxmen films did okay, they were not a huge cultural revolution like The Matrix was(in fact the black leathers was riding off of that franchise's look), nor even matched the performance of something like Raimi's Spider-Man. Same goes for Morrison's run vs. Claremont. Claremont was king for over a decade, the hottest books the genre had ever seen. 1991's #1 is STILL #1 all these years later in sales. Morrison's New X-Men was certainly a curiosity and sold well for the time, but not like the golden era days of Claremont. And TAS's ratings were far more impactful than Evolution's. So, while younger fans might relish the early 2000's, in context, they still weren't as powerful as the early 90's.

I think we are just at the beginning of X-Men reemerging. If the rest of '97 continues to be as good or even better than the first few episodes, then we are in for a treat, but it will take more than a niche animation show on Disney+ to match the '90's X-mania. The ratings on '97 have to reach a wider audience first. Then the MCU has to execute a very impressive, very successful live action X-Men project after Deadpool/Wolverine, which also has to be well executed and super successful financially and in terms of audience reception. And we need some amazing next generation X-Men video games(not just Wolverine ones). So, realistically, we're still a good 5-10 years off from an era that could eclipse the '90s. And that's assuming Hollywood and the wider mechanisms of this world aren't severely disrupted during that time.... which is assuming a lot these days.

Pretty much this. The X-Men aren't bigger then they have ever been, merely bigger then they have been in the last 20 years or so. I doubt they reach the heights of the 90s ever again (when it was X-Men, X-Men inspired stuff like WILDCats, and then everything else) but they still have room to grow currently. The real question is going to be whether or not they can have a good film.

[PhantomBoom]

No it is not a weird comparison if you read the question on topic. The question was if the X-Men franchise is more popular than ever now and the simple answer would be that they are not even near the popularity they once had.

I mentioned the X-Men TAS because that was when the X-Men were on their peak IMHO. The X-Men were everywhere(toys, video games, arcades) and they were the most popular super heros above any other. If someone think the X-Men 97 already made X-Men more popular than ever one is super overrating the success of the new animation so far.

Someone can argue that Deadpool and Wolverine trailler broke the views record and that was in fact huge although expected since both characters are very popular. The problem is that i don´t know if the general audience associate this movie with X-Men franchise.

I know what the thread's topic, that doesn't really change what I said though.
X-Men 97 has only been around for over 3 weeks and has only 3 episodes released, trying to compare that to the five season run the original series had is just unreasonable, especially when factoring in all the differences surrounding them.
Especially when you're trying to make the argument it's not actually a hit and isn't doing well..

[X-Logan]

I know what the thread's topic, that doesn't really change what I said though.
X-Men 97 has only been around for over 3 weeks and has only 3 episodes released, trying to compare that to the five season run the original series had is just unreasonable, especially when factoring in all the differences surrounding them.
Especially when you're trying to make the argument it's not actually a hit and isn't doing well..

Seems like you still don´t understand what I said...lol
Again, i am not simply comparing the two shows per se. What i said was that the moment the X-Men reach their peak in popularity was during X-MEN TAS and they are nowhere near that today which was the question by the way. If the problem is that X-MEN 97 was released in a streaming service or have only 3 episodes that was not my point.
Also i am not trying to make any argument that X-Men 97 isn´t doing well what i said was that if someone think that X-Men 97 already made the X-Men more popular than ever this person is highly super over estimating the success so far.

[PhantomBoom]

Seems like you still don´t understand what I said...lol
Again, i am not simply comparing the two shows per se. What i said was that the moment the X-Men reach their peak in popularity was during X-MEN TAS and they are nowhere near that today which was the question by the way. If the problem is that X-MEN 97 was released in a streaming service or have only 3 episodes that was not my point.
Also i am not trying to make any argument that X-Men 97 isn´t doing well what i said was that if someone think that X-Men 97 already made the X-Men more popular than ever this person is highly super over estimating the success so far.

You can very much argue the X-Men aren't at their peak popularity right now, but that's really not what you're saying.
You said X-Men 97 wasn't a hit, and you keep trying to compare its current 3 episode run to the five seasons of the original, which is completely unreasonable no matter how you put it.
Heck even the OP didn't even day X-Men 87 made the franchise more popular if anything they said the franchise's popularity is one of the reasons its doing well.

[Gnostic]

You can very much argue the X-Men aren't at their peak popularity right now, but that's really not what you're saying.
You said X-Men 97 wasn't a hit, and you keep trying to compare its current 3 episode run to the five seasons of the original, which is completely unreasonable no matter how you put it.
Heck even the OP didn't even day X-Men 87 made the franchise more popular if anything they said the franchise's popularity is one of the reasons its doing well.

Bingo. That's my point.

[X-Logan]

You can very much argue the X-Men aren't at their peak popularity right now, but that's really not what you're saying.
You said X-Men 97 wasn't a hit, and you keep trying to compare its current 3 episode run to the five seasons of the original, which is completely unreasonable no matter how you put it.
Heck even the OP didn't even day X-Men 87 made the franchise more popular if anything they said the franchise's popularity is one of the reasons its doing well.

Saying something is not that great of a hit as some people think is pretty much different than saying something is not a hit at all. But as they say i am only responsible for the words i say not for how you choose to hear them.

[whitecrown]

I don't think it's possible for them to ever reach their height in the 90s again. And superheroes seem to be losing popularity rapidly with general audiences so I don't think a reintroduction in the MCU will make much of a difference. Audiences are moving on.

Even with X-Men '97, the most interest in this show is coming from nostalgic fans of the X-Men. I don't think it's really gathering many new viewers especially considering how dense the history of the X-Men is even in the show. For kids with little to no knowledge of the X-Men, I can't see them playing the first few episodes and feeling much if they don't have a pre-existing relationship with the characters already. This is definitely a show for the old school fans.