Warning: SPOILERS for the X-Men ’97 season 2 finale and X-Men ’97: Season Two #3 are ahead!X-Men ’97 has been going on two fronts over the last several months. While season 2 of the TV show just wrapped its run on Disney+ after premiering at the beginning of July, the comic book series X-Men ’97: Season Two began being published the month prior. However, rather than the comic book’s events running concurrent to the TV show, it instead depicts what happened between seasons 1 and 2.
The X-Men ’97 season 2 finale ended with Apocalypse being defeated and imprisoned by Rogue inside a crystal. The villain has officially been taken off the board, though with at least two more X-Men ’97 seasons confirmed, it’s possible he could someday be freed from his cosmic confinement. In the meantime, X-Men ’97: Season Two #3 has revealed that there’s an “heir of Apocalypse” in the mix as well, which could have big implications for the show.
Apocalypse’s Heir Is A Baby
Along with checking in on the X-Men trapped in the past and future, X-Men ’97: Season Two follows X-Force’s exploits in the 1990s, showing how Jubilee and Sunspot joined Cable, Archangel, and Psylocke’s crusade to kill Apocalypse. X-Men ’97: Season Two #3 sees the team traveling to Madripoor to apprehend Pestilence, one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen. They then learn that there’s turmoil between Pestilence and fellow Horseman Famine, with the latter determined to ensure the former doesn’t win over their “dread lord’s favor.”
Unfortunately for Pestilence, Famine succeeds in her goal of obtaining the aforementioned heir of Apocalypse, who’s just an infant. Cable and Psylocke learn about this through one of the visions Psylocke has been experiencing of the past and present, in contrast with visions of the future bequeathed by the opal of Ozymandias that Pestilence wants. Since Famine took great steps to acquire the “heir,” Cable is right that X-Force needs to “worry” about this infant.
Since the baby isn’t shown, it’s unclear who this heir is, as well as whether Apocalypse was involved in their selection, or if it’s someone Famine believes would meet with her master’s approval. In the comics, that title belongs to Cypher, one of the earliest members of the New Mutants. In the 2024 miniseries X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse, he won the tournament to become Apocalypse’s successor and was transformed by Celestial technology. Cypher now goes by Revelation, and resolves to evolve Apocalypse’s legacy and protect mutantkind with his new powers.
It remains to be seen if Cypher will fill a similar role in the X-Men ’97 universe, or if another character has been selected as the heir instead. It’s also unclear if this storyline will be resolved in X-Men ’97: Season Two’s final two issues, or if it could be picked back up in X-Men ’97 season 3. The season 2 finale’s post-credits scene saw Mystique, who served Apocalypse in X-Men: The Animated Series, assuming Valerie Cooper’s identity after killing her.
X-Men: Season Two #3 is now available from Marvel Comics. X-Men ’97 season 3 is expected to premiere in 2027.
- Release Date
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March 20, 2024
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley
