For those who remember, the style of the 1990s X-Men animated series was perhaps even more important than its substance. While the storylines of the classic show still hold up almost three decades later, the reason why the show remained so beloved is clearly for two reasons: the banger of a theme song, and the distinctive animation style; an overall aesthetic that seemed to suggest that what you were watching was ripped from the pages of actual Marvel comics, and brought to life.

But, in the 27 years since X-Men aired its last episode on network TV, there have been a lot of changes in the world of animation, and, several different onscreen versions of the X-Men, too. While it’s easy to say that X-Men ‘97 is simply a continuation of the old show, complete with a very similar animation style, making that magic happen was easier said than done.

Ahead of the launch of the new series on Disney+, Inverse caught up with X-Men ‘97’s supervising producer and head director Jake Castorena, to get the scoop on how the show goes back to the ‘90s, visually and tonally, but spiritually, moves the mutants forward.

I didn’t expect to have the OnePlus Watch 2 on my 2024 smartwatch recommendation list, but here we are, in the Year of the Dragon, and OnePlus has made one of the best smartwatches for Android phones that doesn’t sport a Samsung logo on it.

My month with the OnePlus Watch 2 has been mostly positive. It’s a handsome smartwatch with a larger and more readable display than Google’s Pixel Watch 2, the workout tracking does what’s advertised, and the battery life is longer than Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6.

Like the OnePlus 12, it’s a no-gimmick device that gets all the essentials right. I really hope this is the beginning of OnePlus and maybe other smartwatch makers turning up the heat on Samsung because the Galaxy Watch series has been starving for serious competition for years. And you know what they say... strong competition forces companies to make better products, which means we all get better devices.