All eyes are now on the highly anticipated second season of X-Men '97 after the first season ended with a major cliffhanger. The X-Men went missing after Asteroid M’s implosion, with many, including Forge, presuming they were dead. Six months after their disappearance, Forge began searching for new mutants to “carry on the torch” and started building a new group of superheroes. Now, Marvel Studios' Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, has dropped a major tease about what’s to come in X-Men '97 Season 2, which involves “many teams.”
At the recent X-Men '97 Season 1 screening (via Collider), Winderbaum, supervising producer Jake Castorena, and director Emi/Emmett Yonemura were asked about an update for X-Men '97 Season 2. Winderbaum felt generous enough to reveal two other X-teams joining the original X-Men when the animated series returned.
“There’s many teams, in Marvel, that have the letter ‘X’ that are followed by a hyphen,” he explained. “I would put it to you like this… there’s two other X teams in Season 2.”
True enough, there are several X-teams in the Marvel universe. Though it remains to be seen which groups will end up in the revival series’ second outing, it was revealed at the Marvel Animation panel at the recent D23 2024 that Polaris, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabretooth would be part of the upcoming season.
So, with their arrival, it’s highly likely that X-Men '97 Season 2 will introduce the X-Factor, given that Lorna Dae, a.k.a. Polaris, is a member of this group in the comics. Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth, on the other hand, are both part of the Weapon X-Men. So, though Winderbaum didn’t reveal the names of the other X-teams coming in the second season, there’s a big possibility that they will be the X-Factor and a version of Weapon X-Men.
Who will be the new mutant group in X-Men '97 Season 2?
After the catastrophic collapse of Asteroid M, the X-Men were sent to different timelines. Cyclops and Jean Grey were in the desolate future of 3960 A.D., where they met Mother Askani and the young Nathan Summers. Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto ended up in 3000 BC Egypt and encountered En Sabah Nu, the future Apocalypse. As for Storm, Wolverine, and Morph, their whereabouts are yet to be revealed.
So, as many thought they were dead, Forge built a mutant board, seemingly a nod to Bryan Singer’s 2014 X-Men: Days of the Future Past, to enlist the potential recruits and their statuses. The board featured Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Nightcrawler, Morph, Rogue, Wolverine, and former X-Men Archangel with the mark “missing/presumed dead.” Jubilee, Sunspot, and Cable were AWOL, while Magneto’s kids, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, were marked “off-world.”
Eight other mutants were on the list: Iceman, Havok, Sooraya Qadir / Dust, Bennet du Paris / Exodus, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, and the siblings Piotr Rasputin / Colossus and Illyana Rasputin / Magik. Though it is not yet revealed if they will make it in X-Men '97 Season 2, it looks like they’re the mutants Forge considers to be part of the new X-Men team members.
It’s good to note that Havok is part of the X-Factor. So, with Winderbaum’s tease, Cyclops’ older brother may indeed be part of X-Men '97 Season 2. Fans are advised to take this assumption with a grain of salt, as nothing is confirmed yet. As little teasers about the new season are emerging, there may be more to come.
All episodes of X-Men '97 Season 1 are available on Disney+, while Season 2 has no official release date yet.
