Ever wonder why Wolverine sounds like he’s fresh off a plane from Sydney in some old clips? Or why there’s a random, super-high-quality X-Men cartoon from the late '80s that just... stops after one episode?
Honestly, if you grew up in the early '90s, you probably saw a VHS tape at a garage sale or a Blockbuster called Pryde of the X-Men. It wasn't a movie. It wasn't the famous 1992 series everyone knows. It was a pilot. A weird, beautiful, somewhat broken experiment that tried to launch the X-Men into the mainstream three years before Jubilee ever set foot in a shopping mall.
Basically, Marvel Productions had some extra cash. They were working on a RoboCop cartoon and decided to scrap the 13th episode to fund a standalone X-Men pilot instead. They hired Toei Animation—the legendary Japanese studio—to handle the visuals. And man, it shows. The animation in this single 22-minute episode is arguably smoother and more dynamic than anything we got in the actual five-season run that followed. But the story? Well, that's where things get kinda messy.
The Brotherhood of Mutant... Terrorists?
The first thing you’ll notice if you watch Pryde of the X-Men today is the narration. Stan Lee himself kicks things off with a voiceover that sounds like a 1950s PSA. He warns the audience about the "mutant threat" before introducing Magneto’s team.
But they aren't the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants here.
No, they are the Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists.
They actually call themselves that. It’s hilariously blunt. Usually, villains at least pretend they have a noble cause, but Magneto’s crew in 1989 was lean, mean, and apparently very honest about their LinkedIn job titles. The lineup is a weird mix, too. You’ve got the heavy hitters like Juggernaut and Blob, but then you’ve got the White Queen (Emma Frost) acting as Magneto's right hand.
In the comics, Emma was leading the Hellfire Club. Here? She’s basically a high-ranking minion who helps Magneto steal a "mutant power circuit" from Cerebro. The plan is truly "Saturday Morning Cartoon" logic: Magneto wants to use the circuit to redirect a comet toward Earth. The impact would kick up a dust cloud, block the sun, and trigger a new Ice Age that only mutants (supposedly) could survive.
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It’s a bit of a leap, even for a guy who controls metal.
That Australian Wolverine Mystery
Okay, we have to talk about the voice acting. For most of the team, it’s pretty standard 80s fare. You’ve got John Stephenson as a very dignified Professor X and Michael Bell (the voice of Duke from G.I. Joe) as Cyclops.
Then there’s Wolverine.
Wolverine is voiced by Neil Ross, and for some reason, he has a thick Australian accent. He calls people "mate." He sounds like he’s auditioning for a Crocodile Dundee spinoff.
There’s actually a reason for this. Back in 1989, Australia was "in." Mad Max and Crocodile Dundee were huge cultural touchstones. There’s a rumor that Marvel was even considering retconning Logan to be Australian in the comics to capitalize on the trend. Thankfully, that didn't happen, but we’re left with this bizarre artifact of a Canadian icon sounding like he’s about to throw a shrimp on the barbie.
Ironically, an actual Australian (Hugh Jackman) would eventually become the definitive face of the character, but he at least had the decency to do the growly North American accent we all expected.
Why Kitty Pryde Was the Lead
The pilot is titled Pryde of the X-Men because it’s told entirely through the eyes of Kitty Pryde. She’s the 14-year-old newcomer arriving at the mansion for her first day of school.
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It’s a classic "audience surrogate" trope.
- She arrives at the school.
- She meets the "ghost" of Professor X.
- She gets a tour of the Danger Room (which looks incredible in this version).
- She accidentally breaks stuff because she can't control her phasing.
In the 1992 series, Jubilee took this role. But in 1989, Kitty was the heart of the X-Men comics. The problem is that the writers didn't really know what to do with her once the fighting started. She spends a lot of the episode screaming or being "the kid" who needs saving. It’s a bit frustrating if you know how much of a powerhouse Shadowcat becomes in the source material.
Still, she gets her moment. She’s the one who ultimately helps stop Magneto’s comet machine, proving she belongs on the team—even if Wolverine (still sounding like a Sydney surfer) tells her she’s not a real X-Man yet.
The Konami Connection
If the character designs in Pryde of the X-Men look familiar, it’s probably because you played the 1992 Konami arcade game. You know the one—the six-player cabinet where you could play as Nightcrawler or Dazzler.
Even though the "real" X-Men cartoon was on the air by then, the game used the 1989 pilot as its visual blueprint. That’s why the roster includes Dazzler, who was almost entirely ignored by the 90s show. It’s also why the game features the White Queen and Pyro as bosses.
The pilot failed to get a series order, but it lived on in every pizza parlor and bowling alley in America through that arcade machine.
Why Didn't It Get Picked Up?
So, why did this high-budget, beautifully animated pilot die on the vine?
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Timing.
Shortly after the pilot was finished, Marvel Entertainment Group was sold to the Andrews Group. During the transition, they basically killed every project that wasn't already a guaranteed hit (like Muppet Babies). The X-Men were popular in comics, but TV executives in 1989 were still convinced that superheroes were for "little kids" and that the X-Men’s themes were too complex for a Saturday morning slot.
They thought kids wouldn't "get" the mutant metaphor. They were wrong, obviously, but it took three more years and a massive push from Fox Kids executive Margaret Loesch to finally get the X-Men on air properly.
How to Experience the Legacy Today
You don't have to hunt down a moldy VHS tape to see this thing. Pryde of the X-Men is widely available on YouTube, often uploaded by fans who want to preserve the history of Marvel animation.
If you're a fan of X-Men '97 or the original animated series, it's worth a watch just for the "what if" factor. You get to see:
- A version of Nightcrawler who actually gets to be the team's MVP.
- A very 80s Dazzler in her blue jumpsuit.
- A Danger Room sequence that puts most modern CGI to shame.
Look for the "Spider-Man PSA" that sometimes precedes the pilot. It’s a bizarre relic where Peter Parker tells kids to register to vote (even though the target audience was 8 years old).
Actionable Next Steps:
- Watch the Pilot: Search for "Pryde of the X-Men full episode" on YouTube. It’s 22 minutes of pure 1989 nostalgia.
- Compare the Art: Pay attention to the background art. Toei’s work here is much more detailed than the often-inconsistent animation of the early 90s series.
- Play the Game: If you have access to the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection, check out the classic X-Men arcade game to see how they translated these specific character designs into sprites.
Ultimately, this pilot wasn't a failure; it was a rough draft. It proved that the X-Men could work on screen, even if it took a few tries to get the accent right.