X-Men ‘97 is back for a second season! The show – a sequel/continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series – kicked off the new season with the opening episode, Days of Past Future, and what an episode it was!
The initial instalment focused on the X-Men’s adventures in 3960 AD, where Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, Storm, and Morph were joined by Forge in an attempt to return the lost mutants to their own time. Along the way, the team had an encounter with Apocalypse’s Horsemen, and helped a young Nathan Summers take his first steps towards becoming a leader in his own timeline.
The opening episode included a bunch of in-jokes, references, and Easter eggs, which gave a nod to the comics, the wider Marvel Universe, and beyond. If you missed them, be sure to swing back and take a look.
In this post, it’s time to focus on Season Two, Episode Two, aka A Force to be Reckoned With. This episode also includes lots of hidden references, which you may want to read up on below.
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New mutants
As the episode gets underway we’re back in 1997, and with the X-Men currently AWOL it’s times for the show to introduce some new mutants, which arrive in the form of a group of characters who pop up during the opening minutes. Amongst the group are two notable characters: Monet St. Croix, aka M, aka Penance, and Quentin Quire, aka Kid Omega.
Monet has various mutant abilities, including super strength, telekinesis, and telepathy. Meanwhile, Quentin also has telekinetic and telepathic powers, as well as a genius level intellect.
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Enter: X-Factor
And then seconds into the introduction of the new mutant characters, X-Factor appear. Led by Alex Summers, aka Havok, the team includes Multiple Man, Polaris, Wolfsbane, and Strong Guy.
X-Factor previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, under the watchful eye of Forge. They debuted in the episode Cold Comfort.
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Chamber
Straight after X-Factor appear, there is a news bulletin providing further details on the Government-backed team and their mission. During this bulletin, Havok and Polaris can be seen holding another mutant captive.
The mutant is Chamber. The character was first introduced in the comics back in 1994 via the pages of Generation X.
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Credit roll
With Cable’s new mutant group, X-Force being the focus of this episode, there’s a significant change in the opening credits. Firstly, the credits don’t appear until almost five minutes into the episode, and secondly they have been completely reworked.
The roll call here includes Cable, Jubilee, Sunspot, Archangel, and Psylocke.
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Blast from the past
The opening credits also include call backs to previous encounters with Apocalypse, most notably via a scene from the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, Obsession.
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War
As the credits come to an end, the action switches to Rio de Janeiro, where X-Force are on the trail of one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen, War. This isn’t the first time War has appeared, he previously popped up in X-Men: The Animated Series.
War was one of the Horsemen created during the two-part story, The Cure/Come the Apocalypse. This is the same two-part story where Warren Worthington III, aka Archangel temporarily became the Horseman known as Death.
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A frosty reception
With War taken care of, X-Force relocate to England to track down Emma Frost. Frost previously appeared in Season One of X-Men ‘97, but initially appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series during the Dark Phoenix Saga.
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Generation X
Jubilee is wearing a new outfit in this episode. The costume is a variation of her Generation X costume from the comics.
With M, Chamber, and Emma Frost featuring in this episode, and Jubilee wearing her Generation X costume, it appears the show is paving the way for the eventual introduction of Generation X.
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Former X-Man
After Jubilee is captured by Polaris and Havok, Polaris begins to mention her time as a member of the X-Men. This is something which was previously discussed in X-Men: The Animated Series during the episode, Cold Comfort.
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Imprisoned
And finally, as Jubilee is taken to an X-Factor prison, various mutants can be seen in the cells. Amongst the collection of mutants being held captive are the Cuckoos, Boom Boom, Artie, Dust, Anole, Glob Herman, Nature Girl, Pixie, Chamber, M, Quentin Quire, and Synch – another member of Generation X
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about X-Men ’97 on It’s A Stampede! – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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