Everyone knows my first love has always been The Uncanny X-Men. Been reading them since I was a kid, and the ’90s were a creative peak for the entire franchise. As such, I loved X-Men: The Animated Series, but had zero interest in X-Men ’97 going in because there was little chance it could recapture the magic of that period. Boy, was I a fucking idiot. Not only did the show capture the soap opera angst, exciting action, and visual style of that beloved era, but it wasn’t shy about pushing Marvel’s merry mutants into weightier thematic territory, including the death of fan-favorite character, Gambit.
After what feels like forever, the trailer for season two of X-Men ’97 is here, and I’m more pumped than ever before. This season picks up where the last one left off, with the X-Men scattered across time and trying to get back to the present. Meanwhile, their archnemesis, and truly the greatest villain all of Marvel, En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse, is waiting in the wings. It’s up to Bishop and Forge to bring the team members back together.
What has me most excited is the arrival of the government-sanctioned X-Factor team, led by Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, and Multiple Man, along with Val Cooper. This is arguably my favorite team ever from my favorite comics run. We also see the Cable-led X-Force squad, X-Corp, and more.
Watching this footage, I also see a way for the show to maneuver its way into the incredible X-Cutioner’s Song crossover, which is my all-time favorite storyline.
Season two arrives with a little bit of controversy, following the dismissal of head writer Beau DeMayo. Matthew Chauncey took over for the upcoming third season. And now it’s been confirmed by exec-producer Larry Houston to EW that a fourth season is confirmed, with shorter breaks between seasons…
“They want everyone to know it’s only gonna be a year now between seasons, not two-and-a-quarter years,” Houston said. “It’s gonna be a year until the next one and a year until the next one [after that]. They are on schedule now. One of the reasons they’re on schedule is we’ve gone over, given notes on, responded to not only all the scripts for season 3, all the animatics for season 3, we are in season 4 giving script notes. So that’s how deep they are into the development.”
X-Men ’97 season two hits Disney+ on July 1st.
