The X-Men ‘97 Season 1 finale featured the disappearance of several X-Men members: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto. After a six-month time jump, when everyone believes they’re dead, including Forge, the latter is already looking for new mutants to “carry on the torch.” After making a board that shows the list of potential recruits and their statuses, the final episode, Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3, leaves a big question about who will be the new group of mutants.
On Forge’s mutant board, which seems to be a nod to the 2014 movie X-Men: Days of the Future Past, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Nightcrawler, Morph, Rogue, Wolverine, and former X-Men Archangel are all marked missing/presumed dead. Jubilee, Sunspot, and Cable have gone AWOL after the first two manage to return to Earth, while Nathan Summers didn’t join the action after Bastion tore his techno-organic arm. Magneto’s kids Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, are also on the roster and marked “off-world.”
However, eight other mutants are on the list, and it looks like they will be the new group of X-Men that will make their way to the upcoming X-Men ‘97 Season 2. Iceman, Havok, Sooraya Qadir / Dust, Bennet du Paris / Exodus, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, and the siblings Piotr Rasputin / Colossus and Illyana Rasputin / Magik are all on the listing. Add that to Bishop’s timely arrival and plan to rescue the X-Men with Forge; these two may lead the new X-Men team.
X-Men ‘97 Season 1 Seems to Prepare for This New Mutant Team’s Arrival in Season 2
X-Men ‘97 Season 1 seems to prepare for the possible arrival of this new mutant team in Season 2. In Episode 2, Mutant Liberation Begins, Morph briefly transforms into Colossus while impersonating Illyana in Episode 3, Fire Made Flesh. With their extraordinary abilities, these two will be of great help to Forge and Cable.
Iceman appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series. Though he didn’t officially join the team, he may now do so in X-Men ‘97 Season 2. As for Emma, she unveiled her second mutation, diamond-like skin, in X-Men ‘97 Episode 7, Bright Eyes. Since then, there have been speculations that she will join the show in a major role.
Like Iceman, Havok was also part of the original ‘90s series, and his romantic involvement with Magneto’s daughter, Polaris, will be a good plot twist in the reboot’s second season. Exodus has the same telekinetic and telepathic abilities as Jean Grey. So, if he becomes part of the new mutant group, he will be a formidable member who can help find the missing X-Men.
With these eight new X-Men team members, possibly led by Forge and Bishop, X-Men ‘97 Season 2 will have a powerful line-up. If this happens, there will be a big chance for them to save Cyclops, Jean, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto, who are stuck in the past and the future after Asteroid M's destruction.
All episodes of X-Men ‘97 Season 1 are now available on Disney+. So far, there are no words on when X-Men ‘97 Season 2 will be released.
