The first season of X-Men ’97 in 2024 was nothing short of amazing. Week after week, the travails of Marvel’s Merry Mutants in animated form was among our favorite things that year. (Go back and listen to Eric Diaz and I talk about it on the Laser Focus podcast from whence.) As with anything I love, the prospect of a second season made me both excited and worried whether it could live up to the orig. Obviously, changing people behind the scenes would have some effect. I’ve now gotten to see the first four episodes of season two, and I’m pleased to share, it’s good. Time will tell if it’ll be as good.
The first season crammed a lot of story development into only a few episodes. Thus far, it feels like X-Men ’97 season two is covering a lot of ground without burning a ton of storylines. The four episodes that begin the season deal with several, but not all, of the dangling plot threads from the cliffhanger at the end of the last season. As a result, we don’t get to spend a ton of time with everyone yet, but who we do spend time with get plenty of development. And, naturally we get lots of action to keep X-Men fans happy.
Last season ended with half the team in the far-future where Apocalypse reigns supreme. This is where we find Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, Storm, and young Nathan Summers. The other half went to the ancient past to a young Apocalypse, known as En Sabah Nur, before turning down his dark path. This team is Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Rogue, and Nightcrawler. Meanwhile, some team members and side characters remained in the present where they have to continue the freedom fighting after the world almost died thanks to Bastion and the Sentinels. Cable, Jubilee, Sunspot and others fill this slot.
While remaining as spoiler-free as possible, I’ll just say that episodes one and two deal with two different time periods while episodes three and four act as a mini-movie in a third time period. For me, the episodes got better as they went. I liked the premiere just fine but it’s the one the felt the most rushed. The second episode gave us a really fun riff on some characters from last year plus a host of new ones.
It is, however, the two-parter that really lets us know this season isn’t just about spectacle and piling on the characters. These give us some real depth and intrigue and allow the players and the themes to breathe. These two feel like they’ll have the most impact going forward. If you’re fans of Magneto and Professor X, then these are definitely up your alley.
The animation remains incredible, the colors pop with vibrancy. I’ve always been impressed by how the animators were able to take the gorgeous but stilted imagery of the original ’90s cartoon and bring it to life so dynamically. You want big, explosive action from your X-Men stories and you get it here and one can imagine it’ll only go up from here.
I’d say the most disappointing thing about X-Men ’97 season two so far is that I only got to see four episodes and there are only five after that. I’m glad we’re getting yearly seasons from here on because I don’t think we could handle having to wait another two years. While the jury is still out whether the rest of the season will hold up, and none of the episodes so far have reached the heights of individual season one episodes, I’m supremely optimistic for what’s to come.
X-Men ’97 season two will premiere July 1 on Disney+.
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 Letterboxd.