Few voice actors love the character they portray as much as X-Men ’97’s Lenore Zann loves Rogue. And playing the sassy mutant Southern Belle for thirty years has not diminished Zann’s affection. At the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where X-Men ’97 received a nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, Zann took her fangirling to the next level. She actually wore one of her character’s formal outfits from recent X-Men comics to the ceremony. Lenore Zann also rocked a Rogue wig with the character’s signature skunk stripe hairdo. You can see her comic book-inspired outfit below:
Comic book artist Luciano Vecchio designed the costume, which was created for last year’s Hellfire Gala in the comics. The Hellfire Gala was a formal event thrown by the mutants of the island nation of Krakoa three years in a row. Every year, the X-Men and other Marvel heroes would bring their very best attire to the party. And every year, the fans ate up all the haute couture high-end fashion. The Hellfire Gala also gave artists like Vecchio a chance to flex their design muscles and come up with new fashion for the X-Men each time the event rolled around. With the end of the Krakoan era, it may be some time before we see the X-Men so runway-ready again.
Sadly, X-Men ’97 did not win the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. That honor went to the series Blue Eye Samurai. X-Men ’97 received a nomination for its emotional and shocking fifth episode, “Remember It.” That harrowing chapter was truly a showcase episode for Zann as Rogue. Even with no win, it’s still amazing that a sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series made decades later could receive such accolades. We’re just happy the cast and crew of the series got to enjoy their much-deserved nomination and look so fierce doing it.