Episode Seven of X-Men ‘97 Season Two is now streaming on Disney+. Titled ‘Strange Land, Savage Heart’, the episode follows on from: ‘Days of Past Future’, ‘A Force to Be Reckoned With’, ‘Rise of Apocalypse – Part One’, ‘Rise of Apocalypse – Part Two’, ‘Weapon X, Lies and DVDs’, and ‘Danger.exe‘.
Have you managed to take a look yet? And did you catch all the little references, in-jokes, and nods to X-Men: The Animated Series, the comics, and the wider Marvel Universe?
Well, don’t worry if you were too invested in the drama to catch everything being chucked at the screen. All you need do is keep reading for a guide to what hidden references you might have missed.
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Roll credits
As usual let’s start with the opening credits which include a slight adjustment to the team roster to incorporate Polaris into the lineup. Additional changes this week include a clip featuring Nightcrawler and Mystique, a nod to the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘Bloodlines’, as well as a clip featuring Grayson Creed and Apocalypse which is a nod to the X-Men: The Animated Series two-part episode, ‘Time Fugitives’.
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Colossus and Magik
As the episode opens, there is a flashback to the destruction of Genosha, from the X-Men ‘97 episode, ‘Remember It’. However, this flashback shows an event not previously depicted: The Death of Colossus’s sister, Illyana, aka Magik.
Both Colossus and Illyana previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, albeit very briefly. Back then, Illyana was only a child and did not have super powers.
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Graydon Creed
From Genosha to the re-introduction of Graydon Creed, who is running for US President. It’s a re-introduction as Creed also previously featured on X-Men: The Animated Series, initially introduced during the show’s second season.
Creed is a (hateful) human whose parents are the shapeshifting mutant, Mystique, and Wolverine’s old enemy, Sabretooth (last seen in the X-Men ‘97 episode, ‘Weapon X, Lies and DVDs).
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Come the Acolytes
As Creed speaks to a crowd, in a fundraising event attempting to push his political agenda, he is attacked by the Acolytes – former mutant followers of Magneto. Many of the members of the Acolytes have previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, either appearing as background characters in episodes, or most notably in the two-part story, Sanctuary.
One of the members of the group is Amelia Voght. It was previously established on X-Men: The Animated Series that Xavier and Voght were romantically involved.
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Exodus
With Magneto dead, the Acolytes now follow Exodus.
Exodus first appeared in the comics in X-Factor #92 in 1993. Born in the 12th Century, his abilities include telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, accelerated healing, and immortality.
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A savage land
And now for The Savage Land…
First introduced in Marvel Mystery Comics #22 in 1941, where it was known as ‘The Land Where Time Stands Still’, before getting a better name in X-Men #10 in 1965, The Savage Land is a prehistoric corner of the Marvel Universe, where dinosaurs roam. Hidden in Antarctica, The Savage Land has appeared in the X-Men comics multiple times, and even featured in the 1993 X-Men video game from Sega.
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Previously on X-Men
The Savage Land previously appeared on X-Men: The Animated Series, initially during the show’s second season, after Magneto and Xavier find themselves trapped there by Mister Sinister. Most episodes of the second season feature a small sequence in The Savage Land, showing Magneto and Xavier’s survival in the harsh environment, before the storyline concludes in the two-part episode, ‘Reunion’.
The Savage Land was seen again in the third season, via a two-part story titled ‘Savage Land, Savage Heart’.
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De-powered
As the X-Men arrive in The Savage Land, they find themselves without their mutant abilities, due to inhibitor tech in the main citadel. This is something which previously happened to the team in X-Men: The Animated Series, when they first encountered The Savage Land during the show’s second season.
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13
As the episode continues, The Acolytes put Graydon Creed on trial with Nightcrawler put on defence. During the trial, Creed’s heritage is brought up, prompting him to mention that Sabretooth was disappointed in his son for not being a cub.
Creed then mentions that when he was a child he used to imagine he would get mutant abilities at the age of 13. This age is in reference to the general belief in the Marvel Universe that mutants gain their abilities when they become teenagers.
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A giant-size X-Man
As the episode begins to wrap up, Colossus leaves the Acolyte’s and joins the X-Men at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. In the comics, Colossus first became a member of the X-Men in 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men #1.
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Cortez?
And finally, as the action switches location to Athens, X-Force come upon what they believe is the body of Apocalypse. However, this may not be Apocalypse, but could be the body of Fabian Cortez – a former Acolyte who crossed paths with Apocalypse at the end of the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘Sanctuary – Part Two‘, and who had his body taken over by Apocalypse in ‘The Fifth Horseman‘.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about X-Men ’97 on It’s A Stampede!. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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