Before his abrupt dismissal from the series, “X-Men ’97” showrunner Beau DeMayo seemingly did his utmost to ensure the revival show remained as faithful as possible to the Fox Kids original. That involved asking the surviving voice cast back, though sadly both Norm Spencer (Cyclops) and David Hemblen (Magneto) passed away in 2020. But pretty much everyone else from the original cast returned, alongside several newcomers and “White Lotus” star Theo James, who voices a mystery “fan-favorite” character.
And it wasn’t just the actors that returned from the original. Larry Houston was asked back specifically to lend his expertise to the all-important opening titles, and appears to have been indispensable to their creation. Having started as a storyboard artist for Filmation, Houston went on to work on several beloved animated shows from “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” to “Transformers” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” But there’s no doubt he’s best known for his work on “X-Men,” and supervising producer/head director Jack Castorena was eager to tap into his experience.
Castorena spoke to /Film’s Ethan Anderton for an episode of the /Film Daily podcast, and revealed that Houston was psyched to help out with crafting a modern version of his original “X-Men” titles. He said:
“I’ve gotta give a huge shout-out to Larry Houston. We brought the O.G. man himself, brought him back. He storyboarded the original opening titles. We brought him back to see if he wanted to help direct and spearhead these opening titles, and he couldn’t have been more happy.”
Castorena explained how Houston worked with episodic directors Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura to create the new titles, which, just like the original sequence, introduce each character alongside text of their names.
