Marvel Entertainment has announced an agreement with the Indian animation studio First Serve Toonz to co-produce a 26-episode TV animated series featuring Marvel's popular X-Men characters and focusing on the most popular X-Character, Wolverine.  Marvel will handle U.S. distribution of the series, which should be available by the summer of 2007, while tennis legend Vijay Amritraj's First Serve Toonz will handle international and DVD sales. 

The new X-Men animated series should provide additional media visibility for the popular franchise.  The third live action X-Men film is currently in production and is slated for a spring 2006 debut.  A Wolverine feature film starring Hugh Jackman is in development but unlikely to debut before 2008.

The agreement with First Serve Toonz is very similar to an earlier pact Marvel made with the French animation studio Antefilms (see 'Marvel Licenses FF for Animated Series') for a 26-episode Fantastic Four animated series, which is currently slated to debut in the fall of 2006.  Marvel, which has had a string of movie successes in recent years, is determined to increase its visibility (and utilize its characters) on the small screen.  Marvel's Avi Arad told a MIPCOM audience: 'X-Men is one of Marvel's crown jewels, and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second (TV) animation project.'