We loved X-Men ’97 pretty much from beginning to end. It’s the best X-Men thing, maybe ever. The three-part finale offered some intense action for our band of merry mutants. One such memorable moment came when Rogue—still raging about Gambit, et al—begins pummelling villain Bastion and punches him through the side of Asteroid M and into outer space. If that seemed familiar, that’s not a coincidence. Former showrunner Beau DeMayo explained in a Twitter post that the moment was a subconscious homage to 2013’s Man of Steel.
“The action is driven by emotion not plot,” DeMayo shared along with a video of his television. On it plays the scene from about the midpoint of Henry Cavill’s first Superman movie. As Zod threatens Martha (something we know is very touchy to people in this universe), Clark flies in, picks up Zod, and carries him across the cornfield and through a silo. It’s an example of wanton superhero destruction in the movie, but it’s also a great encapsulation of the moment of Superman’s first strike, as it were.
We’ll have to wait a very long time, likely, for a second season of the show. At least we can rest assured we’ll probably get a bevy of behind-the-scenes tidbits between now and then. We’re never mad to revisit such a great series.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.