The X-Men focussed around youth with 'mutant powers', abilities allowing them to do various things that humans couldn't. Although it was the next evolutinary step, mutants were persecuted by humans. Eventually, two sides formed. Xavier, a peace-loving telepath in a wheelchair with his X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel and Iceman) and Magneto, a bitter survivor of the Holocaust, who formed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Toad and Mastermind. Later fan favourite characters like the star-crossed lovers Rogue and Gambit appeared, along with recurring human characters like Senator Kelly and Moira McTaggert. The X-Men cast eventually became so large that seperate teams appeared with their own titles. But that is, as they say, history.

X-Men: Evolution puts a modern spin on all that. De-aging the majority of characters into teenagers, tweaking their personalities to various degrees and creating a few original characters for them to interact with was the first step. What followed is a TV show that both pays regular homage to it's inspiration but is also reasonably stand-alone. X-Men: Evolution.

The start of X-Men: Evolution is simple. Charles Xavier, a powerful telepath and influencial figure, is assembling a school where mutants can train to use their powers for the good of mankind. Meanwhile, Erik Magnus Lensherr (who prefers the alias of Magneto) is similarly assembling a team of mutants who will make sure mutants are treated fairly- by any means neccessary. By an incredible power of coincidence, both of these teams are being assembled in a sleepy town by the name of Bayville.

So far, Xavier's school only has two students enrolled; Scott Summers, a teenager orphaned in a plane crash with the ability to shoot beams from his eyes, and Jean Grey, a telepath and telekinetic girl born from a socialite family. Also at the school are Ororo Munroe, a previous student of Xavier's who commands the weather, and the school's sometimes-bodyguard Logan, an amnesiac with retractable claws and a metal skeleton.

Our friend Magneto, however, isn't going so well. Sure, he's recruited Raven Darkholme, a blue-skinned shapeshifter with an interesting to say the least past, and Victor Creed, Logan's arch-rival who has claws and teeth like a sabretooth tiger. Magneto's even got Irene, a middle-aged blind woman who acmn see flashes of the future. However, Mag's teenage ranks are almost empty, the only one being Todd Tolensky, a distinctly toad-like kid with a history in foster homes, apparently. So, in short, Magneto REALLY needs more troops if he wants that take-over-the-world thing to go smoothly.

And that's the backstory to X-Men: Evolution. Not much more to say, really.