Two years after the first season of X-Men ‘97 made its debut on Disney+, and became a huge hit for the streaming service, the Mouse House unveiled a second season. Picking up directly after the events of its predecessor, Season Two sees the X-Men scattered across time, with half the team sent to the past and the other half flung into the future.
Both groups need help going home, but not before a tragedy occurs. The X-Men also square off against Apocalypse, and discover he’s just as menacing in both the past and the future as he is in the present.
From here, Apocalypse becomes the key antagonist of the season, but there’s room for other characters and other stories too. Wolverine comes face-to-face with the Brood as he returns to the Weapon X Program; the Danger Room gains sentience and becomes a deadly threat; and old friends and allies (including Polaris, Archangel, Psylocke, and Colossus) return to the show.
Plus, there’s the introduction of X-Force, the return of X-Factor, and the formation of X-Corp. A former friend also returns from beyond the grave; Morph transforms a heck of a lot of times; and Nightcrawler proves he’s got what it takes in the teleportation department.
All of this, plus much, much more is crammed into a tightly packed season which doesn’t mess around. Season Two of X-Men ‘97 throws a heck of a lot at the screen, including endless references to the original X-Men cartoon, and takes nods and cues from various comic book stories too (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, The Rise of Apocalypse, Astonishing X-Men, etc).
For the most part, Season Two continues to work extremely well, maintaining the high level of storytelling, character development, and mythology expansion we’ve all come to expect. If you’re a fan of the X-Men, and more specifically a fan of the comics, there is so much to sink your teeth into and get excited about.
However, with this year being an episode shorter (nine instead of last season’s ten), the season does suffer a little here and there. There are a lot of characters to fit into nine episodes, and some of the storylines and plot points could use more time to breathe.
At times the show has a tendency to rush through ideas which could easily be left to simmer a little while longer. Season One wasn’t immune to this, but that one extra episode in the first year helped to keep things better balanced.
That said, Season Two is a lot of fun and continues to remain one of the best shows on TV. X-Men ‘97is appointment viewing, and in an age where concentration spans are waning and where everyone is constantly watching something else, it sure is heart-warming to see X-Men ‘97 grabbing so much fan attention every Wednesday.
Days of Past Future
The second season opened strong with Days of Past Future, which saw Forge head off to 3960 A.D to catch up with Jean, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, and Morph. Here the mutants are tasked with protecting a young Nathaniel Summers to a.) ensure he grows up to become the resistance warrior, Cable, and b.) to keep him away from the clutches of Apocalypse.
Do they manage it? What don’t think?
Days of Past Future gets the second season off to a strong great with an action-packed opener. The focus on a smaller team helps to ease the audience back in; Apocalypse is set up as the big bad of the season; and Storm gets to display the untapped potential of her powers.
A Force to be Reckoned With
The season slides into A Force to be Reckoned With for its second episode, which switches the action back to the present to focus on two members of the team who didn’t get pulled through time: Jubilee and Sunspot. These two are recruited by Cable to join his new black ops team, X-Force, which also includes Archangel and Psylocke.
And A Force to be Reckoned proves to be an interesting and unexpected diversion from the time travelling storyline. This second episode is loaded with cameos; introduces X-Force; and brings back X-Factor who previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series.
Apocalypse isn’t a part of this episode, but he is constantly referenced throughout, and Cable remains a through-line from the previous instalment. All-in-all, the season remains on firm foundations.
Rise of Apocalypse – Part One and Two
Episodes three and four, Rise of Apocalypse, takes X-Men ‘97 to the past to catch up with Beast, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Magneto and Xavier, who are stuck in 3000 B.C.. Here they cross paths with En Sabah Nur – the mutant who will become Apocalypse – before being rescued by the time-travelling mutant, Bishop.
These two episodes bring some interesting material, including a few details about the early life of Apocalypse, as well as some pure gold from Magneto and Xavier, but the momentum does go a bit off the boil with the inclusion of Rama-Tut/Kang. That said this two-parter ends with an emotive climax, which has ramifications for Xavier moving forward.
Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs
For episode five it’s a complete change of pace, with the season taking a side-step to focus on Wolverine. Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs provides the show with the opportunity to tie-up a loose end from last season, namely Wolverine’s lack of Adamantium (it was removed by Magneto).
When this episode aired, the response from some entertainment websites was less than positive. I couldn’t disagree more.
The ensemble cast, the colour palette, some comic book references, the nods to movies such as The Thing or Aliens etc, all add up to a fun, standalone horror story. Plus, Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs makes a nice change from the Apocalypse arc of Season Two, and gives the show a chance to take a breather.
My only criticism is that Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs might have been better served appearing later in the season, simply to give Wolverine more time with his bone claws. The show could have built up his need to get back the Adamantium before giving us the pay-off, rather than making it seem like losing the metal was no major deal in the grand scheme of things.
Danger.exe
For episode six, Polaris comes to the forefront as she leaves X-Factor to return to the X-Men. At the same time, the Danger Room becomes sentient, posing a significant threat to the team.
While this episode isn’t about Apocalypse, there are connections to Magneto which dovetail back into the overall story arc, plus Xavier’s story is further developed. Things are beginning to take a toll on Xavier’s mental state, which will no doubt become a problem in future seasons.
Strange Land, Savage Heart
Strange Land, Savage Heart is the seventh episode of Season Two and it picks up with the fall-out from the mutant massacre on Genosha, with Magneto’s former Acolytes keen to ensure something like this never happens again. They kidnap potential future president, Graydon Creed, and put him on trail in the Savage Land, with Nightcrawler called on to defend him.
This is a great episode of X-Men ‘97 and one of the strongest of the season. It taps into Creed’s hatred for mutants, which is not tempered by episode’s end, puts Colossus and Nightcrawler in the spotlight, and is filled with so many characters.
The Dead Man’s Hand
Episode eight, The Dead Man’s Hand, swings the focus back round to Apocalypse, as well as the resurrection of Gambit. The fan-favourite mutant returns from beyond the grave, but not before his mind and body are taken over by Apocalypse.
Survival of the Fittest
And then the season finishes with Survival of the Fittest, which pits the X-Men against X-Force and X-Factor. Apocalypse returns, Gambit and Rogue wrestle with some transformations, and an unexpected sacrifice is made.
All of the components are there for a great finale, but it does feel a bit rushed. There’s enough material here for at least two episodes, and it is all crammed into one, which is a bit of a shame.
Following suit with Season One, the second season of X-Men ‘97 leans heavily into nostalgia, heavily into the comics, and heavily into enjoyable storytelling. The season continues to push core characters in exciting new ways (keep an eye on Xavier – something’s brewing with him), while bringing an increasing number of mutants into the fold, essentially matching the ‘90s era of the comics.
In doing this, X-Men ‘97 continues to thrive and more importantly it keeps evolving and moving forward. At times it does feel like the series is bounding through major comic book storylines at break-neck speed, but this is really no different to the approach X-Men: The Animated Series took to the storylines it adapted from the ‘70s and ‘80s eras of the comics.
The only real downside is there just aren’t enough episodes this season to contain the action, drama, and scale of what is being introduced. Season Two was originally supposed to be ten episodes, but Disney cut the season order down to nine, meaning some stories had to be trimmed and tweaked accordingly to fit everything in and it shows.
The tweaks are definitely felt towards the back-end of the season, as there feels like less build-up going into the finale. Season One concluded on a clearly defined three-parter which kept building momentum, whereas Season Two’s conclusion is rushed and it’s difficult to shake the feeling that a great deal of the connective tissue is missing.
It’s less A to B to C, and more A to C, with the outline of B faintly pencilled in. However, despite a few bumps due to cost-cutting from Disney (*shakes fist in the air*), this is still stellar stuff.
This is another strong season from X-Men ‘97. The show continues to take fans back to those happy Saturday mornings of yesteryear, when the X-Men were everything.
Sure, it’s a show which is very much focused on pleasing fans, but it’s also one which has the power to bring in newcomers. Let’s just hope we aren’t waiting so long for Season Three to arrive.
Anyway, should you wish to take a look at X-Men ‘97: Season Two, all nine episodes are now streaming on Disney+.
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