The latest episode of X-Men ‘97 Season Two is now streaming on Disney+. Titled ‘The Dead Man’s Hand’, the penultimate episode of the season 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’, ‘Danger.exe‘, and ‘Strange Land, Savage Heart‘.
Have you managed to catch up with the episode yet? And did you spot all the little references, in-jokes, and nods to X-Men: The Animated Series, the comics, and the wider Marvel Universe?
Well, no sweat if you didn’t. All you need do is keep reading for a guide to what hidden references you might have missed.
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Roll credits
Let’s begin with the opening credits which this week… feature no major changes.
Each week significant new additions are incorporated into the credits, but for the most part this week’s credits include the already established cast and mostly utilise clips we’ve seen before. The most notable change is a clip of Gambit, making it clear he will be a focus of this episode.
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Freedom
Into the episode and as X-Force arrive on Genosha, bringing Apocalypse’s body with them, they discuss the distinct possibility that Gambit has been resurrected to do Apocalypse’s bidding. During the conversation, Archangel mentions that Rogue once freed him from Apocalypse’s control.
This is a reference to the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘Come the Apocalypse’. In this episode, Rogue used her mutant powers to absorb Archangel’s dark side, unshackling him from Apocalypse’s control.
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Updates
After the X-Men agree to help X-Force hunt down Gambit, the team head to Cerebra – an updated version of the mutant tracking device, Cerebro – to see if they can locate him. During this scene, the overall design of Cerebra (and the room it is housed in) takes inspiration from the live-action X-Men movies.
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X-Ternal
The action switches to Gambit’s home in New Orleans, which initially centres around a church. A stained glass window can be seen, featuring an image of the X-Ternal (who later appears in the episode).
The X-Ternal previously appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘X-Ternally Yours’, as well as the X-Men ‘97 two-part episode, ‘Rise of Apocalypse’.
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A family affair
Gambit’s family and his ex-wife, Bella Donna appear in the church. All of these characters previously appeared in ‘X-Ternally Yours’.
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Let it go
As Gambit and his possessed family take on the X-Men (and win) in an aerial battle, the X-Men’s ship begins to fall from the sky. In order to stop it from crashing, Psylocke and Jean use their telekinetic abilities to try and perform a smooth landing.
During this scene, Cyclops encourages Cable to help out, by using his telekinetic powers to aid Psylocke and Jean. We don’t usually see Cable use his mutant abilities, as both X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ‘97 have tended to ignore his powers, so this is a rare display of what he can do.
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Colossus
Over to the X-Mansion to quickly catch up with Wolverine, Morph, Forge and Storm, and there’s a quick namecheck for Colossus. As a reminder, Colossus returned in the previous episode, ‘Strange Land, Savage Heart’, and is tentatively a member of the team.
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It’s Morphin’ time
As the X-Men and X-Force arrive in the bayou to face Gambit, the teams engage in battle. This prompts Morph to transform into Earthquake – a member of the Imperial Guard.
Earthquake previously appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga – Part IV: The Fate of the Phoenix‘. In this episode, Earthquake briefly battles Gambit on the dark side of the Moon.
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M’kraan Crystal
Gambit manages to get the upper hand in the fight, leading to Xavier engaging him in mental combat. As the battle begins, Xavier mentions how Jean Grey once had to use the power of the Phoenix to bind the M’kraan Crystal.
This is a reference to an event which took place in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘The Phoenix Saga – Part V: Child of Light’.
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Armour up
As the psychic battle between Xavier and Gambit continues, Xavier adopts gladiatorial armour. He has worn this armour previously during psychic battles on the astral plane in episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series, most notably in the episode ‘Xavier Remembers‘.
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Uncanny X-Men #266
And finally, with Gambit seemingly saved, the X-Men retreat, and take their friend home to recover, hooking him up to a machine to monitor his vitals. Note the vitals initially display the reading: ‘XM-266’.
This is a reference to Uncanny X-Men issue #266, which along with Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (both published around the same time in 1990) marked Gambit’s first comic book appearance.
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