One of the most beloved incarnations of the X-Men in any medium is the enduringly popular X-Men: The Animated Series. Throughout its five-season run from 1992 to 1997, the series introduced Marvel's Merry Mutants to a generation of fans, and it still stands as a definitive adaptation of the X-Men to this day.

And in 2015, Marvel revisited the hallmarks of the acclaimed television series in comic book form during its reality-bending 2015 event Secret Wars. The resulting tie-in miniseries -- by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers and Scott Koblish -- would prove well-received and received an ongoing series following the crossover event's conclusion.

Secret Wars opened with the destruction of the Marvel Multiverse as all of its alternate universes and divergent timelines collapsed upon one another in a cataclysmic event. When the dust settled, the Marvel multiverse was replaced by Battleworld, a composite world formed by piecemeal components from the former multiverse. This patchwork kingdom was made up of Battlezones, which were each ruled with an iron fist by baron serving Doctor Doom. One the Battlezones was one dedicated to a world inspired by 1990s X-Men animated series, complete with shopping malls, arcades and period-appropriate clothing for the Children of the Atom.

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Ruled by the Baron Robert Kelly and Cassandra Nova's Bureau of Super-Powers, the X-Men continue to live in the X-Mansion and 90s-period Westchester, New York as they had in the animated series, only under the supervision of Kelly's Sentinels. Unbeknownst to everyone, Cassandra was possessed by the Shadow King and plotted to use the Bureau's advanced virtual reality technology to trap the X-Men in the Astral Plane. However, Jubilee rescued her teammates before Professor X personally vanquished the Shadow King. When a powerful Sentinel was unleashed on the X-Mansion in the chaos, the X-Men banded together with X-Force to save the mansion and destroy the Sentinel, as the Marvel Multiverse was reborn at the conclusion of Secret Wars.

Back in their own alternate universe, the X-Men expanded their mission to incorporate content inaccessible to the animated series, either being introduced after the series' conclusion -- like Cassandra Nova -- or because of content restrictions. The most notable of the latter had the X-Men take on Alpha Red, the equally vampiric and evil son of Dracula. Alpha Red transforms Jubilee and Maverick into vampires before being reverted back into humans through Cerebro and the Darkhold virus. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Jean Grey had their own time-traveling adventure in the far-future, where they confronted the resurgent threat of Mister Sinister alongside an aged Rachel Grey/Mother Askani.

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The comic book series would culminate in Apocalypse approaching the X-Men and X-Force with a truce shortly after the X-Men returned from a spacefaring mission to defend the Brood from the Shi'ar. Apocalypse suggested using Cerebro and Darkhold to transform humanity into mutants themselves, guaranteeing peace between the two species on Earth and provide the help necessary to repel an incoming Celestial. In a surprising move, Professor X agreed after receiving a majority consent from humanity. This resulted in the Celestial's defeat after humanity embraced the possibility of transforming into mutants and developing their own superpowers.

While maintaining its '90s aesthetic of the animated series, X-Men '92 represented what the cartoon could have been if it was produced with access to Marvel's wider, more current library of characters without having to worry about younger audience sensibilities. While the series ended on an ambitiously auspicious note, hopefully the series' conclusion won't be the last fans see of this iconic era for the Children of the Atom, especially since the animated series is now available in its entirety for new generations of viewers on Disney+.

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