X-Men '97 season 2 vs. Masters of the Universe: nostalgia done right

Marvel and Mattel are both cashing in on the same well in 2026: the animated heroes we watched as kids. Masters of the Universe just dropped a live-action He-Man movie. X-Men '97 season 2 is about to launch on Disney Plus, and the mutants are heading into an apocalyptic future.

Both projects were clearly made by people who love the source material. Both are stuffed with nerdy Easter eggs meant to get the hardcore fans hyped. They are both nostalgia plays.

But there is a difference. The article suggests X-Men '97 is pulling ahead where Masters of the Universe is missing something. The exact reason is not spelled out in the excerpt we have. We are not guessing.

If you have not seen X-Men '97 season 1 yet, this is the kind of thing that shows up in the group chat and gets forwarded to tías who never even watched the original cartoon. Nostalgia works best when it respects the original and still has something new to say. The mutants are going to the future. He-Man is on the big screen. Both are trying to make us feel like kids again.

Why this matters for us: when these big studios decide what nostalgia looks like, they are not always asking la comunidad what we actually want to see — and that choice lands on our screens and our wallets.