Report: X-Men '97 Is No Longer Exclusive to Disney+

Disney+ is no longer the only place where fans can watch Marvel Animation's X-Men '97. Since Disney+ launched in 2019, Marvel content has almost exclusively streamed on this platform for the MCU and other franchises (with the occasional exception elsewhere).

The Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel uploaded the first two episodes of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 in their entirety. Episode 1 (titled "To Me, My X-Men") picks up a year after Henry Gyrich's attempted assassination of Professor X, as the X-Men try to continue his mission for human/mutant coexistence after he left Earth. After scary encounters with the Friends of Humanity group (and the reintroduction of Sentinel tech), the team finds out that Charles Xavier left the team in his will to Magneto, leaving them in shock.

After this, Episode 2 (titled "Mutant Liberation Begins") picks up with Magneto working to earn the team's trust before standing trial for his terrorism against the world. The Friends of Humanity then attack the UN's headquarters and leave Storm powerless, all while Wolverine rushes Jean Grey to the hospital so she can give birth to Nathan Summers. The episode ends on a shocking note when a woman who looks exactly like Jean shows up at the X-Mansion (bringing the plot twist that introduces Madelyne Pryor in Episode 3).

While this is the first time Marvel has uploaded an episode of a non-short-based Disney+ show to YouTube, the studio has used the platform to highlight its content on numerous occasions. This includes releasing all of I Am Groot Season 1 after its 2022 debut on Disney+, which consists of five episodes totaling less than half an hour.

Additionally, Marvel released the Assembled documentary centered on 2021's WandaVision after it initially hit Disney+ in March 2021. This hour-long show dove deep into the making of WandaVision, featuring interviews with the cast and crew and behind-the-scenes footage of how the show came to life and kicked off the MCU's Phase 4.

Disney+ is not the only major streaming service Marvel has used; Hulu has also been part of the studio's release strategy in the past. Along with non-MCU shows like The Gifted and Runaways, Hulu hosted the premiere of 2024's Echo simultaneously with its Disney+ debut.

X-Men '97 Season 2 will pick up directly after Season 1, as new episodes show the X-Men separated across multiple timelines as they face the return of Apocalypse. X-Men '97 Season 2 will begin streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday, July 1.

Will Marvel Continue Releasing Disney+ Projects on Other Platforms?

Marvel has options to release new seasons of Disney+ content on streaming services and platforms outside Disney+.

Notably, Hulu still features a large cache of TV-MA-rated projects, including the original run of Echo, which left the service in April 2024. This means Marvel could potentially look into more adult-rated projects with Hulu releases, appealing to an older audience while continuing to use Disney+ as its main streaming service.

Additionally, having projects like X-Men '97 on YouTube expands the studio's reach for those who may not have subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, or other streamers. This allows fans to get a taste of shows like this for free and test out new MCU entries before committing to the full product if and when they subscribe.

While the MCU's Disney+ slate of confirmed releases post-2026 (outside of new annual seasons of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, X-Men '97, and Daredevil: Born Again) is still being developed internally, the trend of releasing on other platforms outside Disney+ may continue.