Guess I may as well officially welcome the newcomers here. It is nice to get new opinions about the show coming here.
Lot to reply to, so I'll just reply to what I can without clogging the post in quotes.
As stated in another topic, the second season of this show is slated to begin in 2010. The latest rumor is that it will debut "before last quarter 2010", which would likely mean Fall 2010. I seriously doubt that we would see an episode air anywhere by Jan. 2010. The reason is that the official word that a second season of W&TXM was in production was in November 2008, more or less a year ago as of now. It takes months to write a bible for the season, then write and edit scripts, voice record, do all the new character models for the season, and then ship it overseas for final animation. Final animation can take anywhere from 14-24 months to come back from Korea or Japan or where ever it is done. During some commentaries for some of the Lion's Gate DTV's, I believe Craig Kyle used to claim that many of his projects "averaged" taking 18 months to see finished animation. Of course, a DTV has a higher budget than most TV animation, which may be done in less time. Still, Jan. 2010 would mean that they only needed 13 months to have at least one episode written, edited, voiced, animated, and then re-edited, mixed with music and aired. That seems improbably swift.
The first season started popping up overseas in March '08. With NickToons the official home of the show, maybe there won't be so long of a gap between airings in North America vs. the rest of the world. A target date of Fall 2010 seems reasonable. Still, we should hopefully see a teaser trailer for the season, and/or promotional artwork releases, within a month or two.
As always, debate about how
Cyclops was treated by Season 1 continue to abound; methinks the debate was intentional. A general consensus I believe exists is that whether you loved how he was on this show, or hated it, at least he wasn't boring. I have read a few fans on IMDB claim that much. At first the premise of Cyclops for the show irritated me, but having watched how Season 1 handled it, I believe it's a fine premise, just that some of the execution was imperfect. The writers did a great job making him seem flawed, shattered, petty, selfish, vengeful, and whatnot - at least in the episodes where he actually spoke. The problem is they didn't do a good job showing his strengths, or at least the point from which he fell from; the viewer is told that this is a "new change" for Cyclops but we never see what he changed from; even his flashbacks in Episode 20 paint him as incompetent, morbidly obsessed with Jean, and petty. There were also moments where it seemed the entire show stopped so the writers could make a point of how much of a better man Wolverine is, and it was awkward every time. Still, at this point I do commend the experiment. It did have it's moment, and drew a lot of attention. Aside for Wolverine, Cyclops probably had the most focus across the season, especially by the end.
As for his design, Steven E. Gordon basically adopted the John Cassaday design from ASTONISHING X-MEN, as he did for Wolverine and a few of the costumes. The problem is that design is a bit stale and simple. The trench-coat is a bit of a simple way to make it more lively. In motion, it worked out rather well. It added a bit of mystique to the design (pun intended), plus, I imagine the fact that it was Grey was intentional, given Scott's morals for the season, as well as who he was chasing.
Season 2, however, leaves the whole Cyclops dynamic in a bit of a corner. I fully understand why a certain woman died in the finale, at least for now, but it leaves Season 2 in an awkward place. If Jean being there allows Cyclops to lead again, then the title makes no sense and something has to happen to keep Wolverine there. If Cyclops continues to defer to Wolverine even with Jean to make him stable again, it will merely prove his overall incompetence. Episode 20 all but bluntly stated that Logan didn't "take his position" - Logan filled a position that Scott was never able to assume no matter how much Xavier coddled him. If Cyclops decides he misses Frost and ignores Jean, then he seems like a selfish cad for risking his friends lives in Season 1, and ungrateful to boot because Jean is back. If the writers can find some way to make that situation work that doesn't make Cyclops completely unsympathetic, they'll have more than earned their money. I don't envy them. I can't come up with anything.
Colossus has been confirmed as returning, so that will be something to wait for. I do hope Iceman and especially Beast get more to do. This is actually the first X-Men cartoon that went 26 episodes without one centered on Beast. Especially since he is voiced well, has a cool design, even fights! Across three X-Men cartoons, Beast is one of few X-Men one could usually claim was handled well in each one.
I don't believe Cyclops "ripped off Gambit's trench", but I do see why they never appear in the same episode, since it would seem a bit "Trench Coat Mafia" to have both of them in one episode. Even if Justice League was never shy about cape people.
Naturally I am interested in this Apocalypse subplot and seeing where things with Mr. Sinister go. Clancy Brown is great as Sinister and naturally he skipped Evolution, so this is a good 21st century Sinister. The same writing crew made gold of Apocalypse in Evolution, so I am curious to see what they have for a "sequel".
Hopefully the storyboarding for the action improves. None of it was bad, but a lot was a bit mundane.
But above all, hopefully the writing is better able to move along a complex story without losing characters or character interaction to it. Season 1 I thought too often sacrificed character for spectacle. It's forgivable for a debut season but a second season has to improve on foundations. I believe the writers are more than capable of that. Hence why I can be a harsh critic.
.
