It’s not an easy thing these days to tell a story that feels genuine. Nostalgia is the new order of the day: writers and showrunners can’t seem to get a project greenlit without attaching it to some bygone IP, and there seem to be more sequels and spinoffs than there are original films and shows. The latter might be the most demoralizing part of being A Fan™, regardless of the major franchise you subscribe to. But there are, of course, exceptions, and X-Men ’97 is the one that defies this new normal.
If the animated series was ever an attempt to cash in on X-Men buzz, it’s impossible to tell. While X-Men ’97 started as a much-delayed follow-up to the original X-Men cartoon of the 90s — cribbing heavily from its kitschy tone and animation style — it wasted little time establishing its own stake in the franchise. Its first season seemed to come out of nowhere, bringing the fun back to the X-Men title with a whirlwind of comic-accurate adventures, character-driven angst, and the kind of soapy melodrama that has eluded the mutant team for the past 30 years. Its balls-to-the-wall cliffhanger left us wanting more in the best way — and after a two-year wait, X-Men ’97 reaffirms that investment was in no means misplaced.
Mercifully, Season 2 of X-Men ’97 picks up right where its predecessor left off. Its foot is on the gas in much the same way as the back half of Season 1 — but by focusing on one villain, the scattershot nature of previous episodes boils down into a much cleaner conflict. After a jaw-dropping time-travel twist, the X-Men find themselves scattered between Ancient Egypt circa 3000 B.C., the 1990s, and the far-flung future in 3690 A.D. Season 2’s scope is more ambitious as a result, but the perpetual threat of the Apocalypse gives X-Men ’97 a sweet sense of cohesion. The four episodes provided to critics split the difference between episodic adventures of the week and a serialized epic by focusing on one era at a time, with new X-Men factions taking shape out of pure necessity. It’s survival of the fittest as the team works to defeat a classic foe, but by the time the dust settles, X-Men ‘97 might come out on top as the best X-Men tale in decades.
Previously on X-Men ‘97, our valiant heroes struggled against the techno-organic villain Bastion, an army of Sentinels, and the disillusionment of their ultimate antagonist, Magneto. It’s the latter who nearly destroyed the world (...again), forcing the X-Men to embrace their own demise in order to save humanity. Just when it seems like the X-Men are about to meet their ultimate end, they blink out of existence, only to reappear at different eras in time. As we learn in Season 2, the X-Men have been plucked out of their native era in an attempt to stop Apocalypse from conquering the world and enslaving mutantkind in the very distant future. But how? And by whom? That’s just part of the mystery unfolding in the season’s timey-wimey first half.
There are major Terminator vibes in the episodes that open the season. In the 37th Century, the height of Apocalypse’s reign, Cyclops and Jean Grey — alongside Storm, Wolverine, and Morph — reunite with their son Nathan. After being infected by a tech virus in Season 1, baby Nathan was brought to the future for a better chance at survival. Now a troubled teen who also happens to be the mutant messiah, destined to defeat Apocalypse, Nathan is somewhat on his way to becoming the mercenary X-Men fans know as Cable. Whether his parents can reveal their true connection with him, or have any real part in his upbringing, is one of many slippery moral dilemmas X-Men ’97 busies itself with this season. Too much temporal meddling might drive Nathan away from his destiny; then again, maybe Scott and Jean were always meant to guide their son toward his future.
In the ancient past, Magneto, Professor X, and a handful of other X-Men are struggling with much the same problem. They’ve been brought to what’s really the very beginning of Apocalypse’s life, meeting the mutant before he becomes a megalomaniac. Here, he’s just En Sabah Nur, a former slave who’s lived his entire life as an outcast. Magneto, contrite after his latest tantrum in Season 1, wants to make things right with Xavier — and what better way to do that than to tame their most formidable adversary before thoughts of world domination have ever crossed his mind? It’s a tempting proposition, particularly in how it forces Magneto and Xavier into a familiar push-and-pull. The conflicts that ensue oscillate between exhilarating and devastating, but X-Men ’97 serves up a small breather with a present-day interlude following Cable, Jubilee, and the X-Factions, hoping to live up to the X-Men name.
If X-Men ’97 had one flaw, it’d be in its breakneck pacing, a holdover from its first season. Each episode is clearly adapting comic storylines with love and an attention to detail, but these are also stories that could provide fodder for season-spanning arcs. The series speedruns through the X-Men’s respective journeys in the future and past, leaving very little breathing room. That its first four episodes are so compelling, and above all, intelligible, is a credit to those steering the ship behind the scenes. (X-Men ’97’s controversial former showrunner, Beau DeMayo, exited the series after Season 1 but retains a producer credit in Season 2.) Episodes flow at a brisk clip, flinging Easter eggs and potential breadcrumbs as they go — but they never lose sight of the emotional heart of the series. It makes miracles happen 30 minutes at a time, but it’s hard not to wonder what it could do under less of a crunch. Despite a strong first season, X-Men ’97 still feels like it’s in a race against time, but it’s earned the right to slow down and let us take in the scenery.
