Storm’s X-MEN ’97 Upgrade Gets an Infusion of Beyoncé Energy

They describe this as a Storm’s magical girl transformation, and it really is just that. For those unfamiliar, the term usually applies to an anime trope, one where the heroine “utters a key phrase, accompanied by certain gestures and/or using some sort of magical device, and then hovers into the air over a magical background, then has her clothes disappear as her hero costume glows into existence over her.” Sailor Moon popularized this, but even that drew inspiration from She-Ra’s and Wonder Woman’s magical transformations on TV years before. Now, Storm follows in that same grand tradition.

Using Beyoncé’s hit song “Alien Superstar” is also fitting, because a few years back, the musical icon once wore an updated version of that Storm costume for Halloween, designed by Simone Bianchi. It’s a bit of a full-circle moment. Storm’s costume in the series is the first time in the X-Men: The Animated Series continuity she’s worn her original outfit. Designed by Dave Cockrum, this was Storm’s principal costume in the Uncanny X-Men comics for years. But aside from the failed pilot episode “Pryde of the X-Men” in 1989, Storm has never used it in animation. We can’t wait to see more of it in X-Men ’97.