Is X-Men 97 Marvel's best season of television?

X-Men 97 has wrapped its first season, and the question looms large: is it the best Marvel television show ever made? Three seasoned pop culture critics weigh in on where the animated series ranks among Marvel's greatest hits.

The Case for X-Men 97

Winston makes a compelling argument that X-Men 97 stands as the best single season Marvel has ever produced. He credits the show for starting strong in episode five and then closing out exceptionally well. "Honestly, I don't believe it's close," he says. "This ran away with it." He's particularly impressed by how well the show stuck its landing, something he sees as increasingly rare in television.

Beyond critical merit, the show has had broader cultural impact. It successfully reengaged longtime X-Men fans who hadn't followed superhero content in years. People who grew up watching the original animated series found themselves suddenly invested again, and many are now curious about other Marvel properties. The show generated genuine water cooler moments, the kind that get people excited and keep them talking week to week.

The Competition: Daredevil and Loki

Cory, who has watched every Marvel show and is a dedicated X-Men fan, ranks the shows differently. He places Loki season two at number one, followed by Daredevil season two, with X-Men 97 at number three. The main factor holding X-Men back in his view is the existence of multi-season shows like Daredevil. "When you're talking pound-for-pound, just a straight season, I honestly don't believe it's close," Winston concedes, acknowledging Daredevil's advantage of having multiple strong seasons to its name.

Both Loki and X-Men have one weaker episode each, Cory explains. For X-Men, it's the Mendo episode; for Loki, it's episode two. But here's where the shows diverge: the Mendo episode in X-Men ultimately pays off later in the season. Jubilee's character development in that episode directly influences her growth in the finale, where she realizes her powers can evolve beyond simple energy blasts. This thematic payoff gives it more credence than Loki's weaker episode.

Daredevil, by contrast, maintains consistent quality throughout its first two seasons without a single notable dip. That consistency remains a significant benchmark against which new shows are measured.

Recency Bias and Long-Term Legacy

All three critics acknowledge that viewers are currently in the honeymoon phase with X-Men 97. When a show is this exciting and fresh, it's easy to crown it the greatest. The comparison to walking out of a theater after Furiosa comes up: in that moment, you're convinced it rivals Mad Max, but perspective shifts with time.

Shows like Daredevil and Loki had time to marinate in people's minds. They grew better in retrospect as viewers processed them and discussed them over months and years. X-Men 97 may follow the same trajectory, or it may settle into a slightly different tier once the initial excitement fades.

"I'm going to side more on Cory's rankings," one critic says, "because those shows meant so much as I marinated with them in my head. They got better and better." This is a key distinction: immediate impact versus lasting legacy.

The Animation Factor

A significant constraint on X-Men 97's reach is its medium. Had the show been live-action with identical writing and performances, it would undoubtedly have captured a vastly larger mainstream audience. Many viewers dismiss animation as content for children, regardless of how mature or sophisticated the storytelling actually is.

Daredevil's live-action format was crucial to its success on Netflix. It helped launch an entire universe of interconnected shows that thrived for nearly a decade. Animation, however beautifully executed, carries different cultural baggage that limits its crossover appeal.

The Bottom Line

All three critics agree: X-Men 97 belongs in the conversation for Marvel's best season of television. Whether it ultimately ranks first, second, or third depends on how one values recency versus legacy, single seasons versus multi-season runs, and animation versus live-action.

What's undeniable is the show's quality and its cultural moment. It brought energy back to a superhero landscape that had grown tired, it reconnected fans with characters they loved, and it delivered consistently excellent storytelling with a finale that set up future seasons effectively.

The real test comes with season two. Can the show maintain this level without original showrunner Beau DeMayo? That's when we'll know if X-Men 97 has the staying power of Daredevil or the longevity of Loki. For now, it's simply one of the finest seasons Marvel Television has produced.