If you were a child in the ’90s, chances are you know who the X-Men are today because of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992-1997 on the Fox Kids Network. Produced by Saban Entertainment, the series was more or less faithful to the comics, in ways that very few cartoon adaptations of comic books had been up to that point.

While Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men comics were already selling hundreds of thousands of copies, the animated show was viewed in the millions, and because of it, the characters became a household name. Without the success of the cartoon, we doubt that the first X-Men movie would have ever been greenlit.

Unfortunately, the show has not aged that well. The animation looks a little cheap, and the voice acting is cheesy and sub-par. Compared to other animated shows of the time like Batman: The Animated Series, the X-Men cartoon looked like the bargain basement version, even back then. Nevertheless, the shows still holds a place in the hearts of fans all over the world, if only because it introduced them to the concept of Marvel’s Merry Mutants in the first place.

Now a Youtube user going by the name of Philysteak has very carefully and meticulously recreated the first trailer for next year’s highly anticipated movie X-Men: Apocalypse by using corresponding footage from the old cartoon. Using the same dialogue and music cues from the trailer, Philysteak has replaced the live-action footage with scenes from the cartoon that match in any way to what director Bryan Singer shot.

This also shows just how far comic book movies have come. Mainstream films have adapted a character as wild and over-the-top as Apocalypse, something that would have once only been possible in a cartoon. We do indeed live in crazy nerd times.

You can watch the video in full above, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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HT: Philysteak via Comic Book 

IMAGE: Marvel Comics