The world premiere of X-Men: ’97 Season Two took place at the Tribeca Film Festival. The cast, showrunners, and executive producer Brad Winderbaum attended the “uncanny” event, which featured a screening of the first few episodes and a Q&A session. Early reviews following the event highly praised the second season, earning it a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Even 26 years after the original series ended, fans still deeply love the show. Disney Plus’s X-Men: ’97 Season One is already an Emmy-nominated series, and with the third and fourth seasons officially in development, as a fan myself I’m wondering how many seasons the show will ultimately run and which comic book storylines will be adapted next.
Previously on X-Men, after defeating Bastion and stopping Magneto’s declaration to make humanity extinct, the X-Men were scattered across different eras in time. Now, the menacing, eternal tyrant En Sabah Nur—also known as Apocalypse—has returned to rule Earth. Because the X-Men are divided across time, they must confront Apocalypse in the past, present, and future. It is up to Bishop, Forge, Jubilee, and Cable to travel through these different eras, reunite the team, and bring them back to the 1990s to face Apocalypse once and for all.
When we last saw Apocalypse, he was on the verge of ruling throughout space and time to reshape reality in his own image, only to be defeated when his consciousness was trapped in the Astral Plane. Later, the X-Men’s enemy, Fabian Cortez, was forced to find a new host body to serve as a vessel for Apocalypse. Ultimately, Cortez failed, and his own body became Apocalypse’s new vessel. At the end of X-Men ‘97 season one, Apocalypse is seen in Genosha holding one of Gambit’s playing cards. In season two, we will see Gambit resurrected to serve Apocalypse as Death, one of his legendary Four Horsemen.
During a Q&A session about bringing Apocalypse into the original show, X-Men: The Animated Series consultant Larry Houston revealed the early writing challenges of introducing the character.
“When we did the X – Apocalypse stories, all of that backstory didn’t really exist. So, we had to dance around exactly his origin. But the one thing we tried to make sure that everyone knew was that this character was formidable. This character was formidable. And he this character was unstoppable. And so, you really couldn’t overpower Apocalypse, but what you had to do…”
While Apocalypse first debuted in the comics in 1986, Marvel Comics did not fully develop his backstory until ten years later in the miniseries The Rise of Apocalypse (1996–1997). That storyline revealed that as a baby, Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) was abandoned due to his gray skin and facial deformities. A nomadic tribal leader rescued him and, after discovering the child’s immense potential, raised him under the brutal philosophy of the “survival of the fittest.” Later, a Kang variant named Rama-Tut traveled to the past in an attempt to destroy En Sabah Nur; ironically, it was Rama-Tut’s extreme actions that caused En Sabah Nur to become the Apocalypse fans know today.
Elements of this comic storyline will be featured in the second season of X-Men ’97. The season one finale already showcased the comic-accurate character design of a young En Sabah Nur alongside Rama-Tut’s Pharaoh Guards. When the guards attempted to attack the young mutant, they were intercepted by the time-displaced X-Men stuck in Egypt in 3000 B.C. Fans can expect to see more of this conflict in season two, where Rama-Tut himself will appear to try and take down En Sabah Nur, while the X-Men displaced in Egypt will try to appeal to En Sabah Nur and set him on the right path.
The X-Men are not going to be the only team to appear in Season 2. After seeing Forge in Season 1, fans who grew up watching the original show know that he has a superhero team of his own: X-Force. The second trailer officially revealed the team roster, which includes Strong Guy, Havok, Multiple Man, Wolfsbane, and Polaris. Two key members of X-Force share important connections to Cyclops and Magneto. Havok is Cyclops’ brother; both survived a childhood plane crash with their parents, but after being separated, they were not reunited until adulthood in the original show and never officially acknowledged their brotherhood. Meanwhile, Polaris is Magneto’s daughter. While Magneto was aware in the original series that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were his children, he did not know about Polaris. It has been revealed by Larry Houston recently that “Polaris is as powerful as the mutant Magneto, and she not only has a substantial role in Season 2 but she has a pivotal character arc that affects both mutant teams X-Men and X-Force.” in Season 2.
It was discussed how X-Men ’97 bridges the gap for those who never watched the original series, successfully reaching modern audiences. While the original show highlighted every mutant’s uncanny powers, it truly excelled at exploring the human side of each character—delving into their past lives, the internal struggles they encounter in the face of battle, and what it truly means to stand up for each other as X-Men.
X-Men ‘97 Executive Producer Julia Lewald pointed out, “I think what we see when we look past the explosions and all the bright stuff happening, we will see the humanity in each of the characters, I think that was the big takeaway from the original series was, yes, they’re thing they’re flying. Yes, they’re shooting things out of their laser eyes, but it was always down to what was the human story beneath that. And I think that’s where anyone who wanted to watch the X-Men can find a way to watch the X-Men and feel that.”
In the Marvel Universe, the X-Men stand apart from the Avengers and the Fantastic Four; unlike those celebrated heroes, mutants are feared and hated by humanity. As they strive to make the world accept them, the narrative explores the deep emotional weight of their backstories and personal struggles. For instance, Rogue is burdened by the inability to physically touch anyone, while Beast must navigate life trapped in a blue-skinned, furry physique. Their powers and physical appearances serve as direct metaphors for the prejudice they face from human society.
When Stan Lee originally wrote the X-Men comics, he intentionally crafted this message to promote tolerance, allowing fans to connect with the characters’ emotional struggles across comics, animated shows, and live-action films. Audiences will experience this powerful theme once again on July 1st, when X-Men ’97 Season 2 premieres on Disney+, and soon after in Avengers: Doomsday, when Fox’s original X-Men cast is set to return one last time.
