Ideas For X-Men ‘97 Part 2

I recently expressed how excited I was when X-Men ‘97 was announced and spoke about how the show could pick up where it left off here:

Yet I have more I want to speculate on so now I’d like to write about plot lines the show could explore based on smaller plots or cameos in the original series. X-Men ‘97 could have plots that go 1000 different directions but here is what I believe are some likely or logical options.

Iceman

For a character who was a founding member of the X-Men in the comics Iceman has a weak presence in the X-Men animated series. If I’m remembering right he only has a major role in one episode and he doesn’t come across great in it. I don’t mind Iceman being arrogant or overconfident but I’d like to see him be less confrontational and be on better terms with the X-Men. Plus, Iceman has had some really significant moments in the comics since the animated series ended that I’d love to see in X-Men ‘97. In more recent comic runs Iceman has been portrayed as far more powerful than he was in the past. Iceman is now considered an omega level mutant and it would be great to see his more extensive ice powers in X-Men ‘97. Another recent aspect of Iceman’s character I’d like to see in X-Men ‘97 is his sexual orientation. In 2015, Iceman was revealed to be gay and he became one of the most high profile LGBTQ characters in comic books. X-Men has a long history of promoting inclusivity and I’d like to see X-Men ‘97 continue that with Iceman.

Havok

Another character that I think should be featured more in X-Men ‘97 is Havok. The main reason I think Havok needs to appear is because his relation to Cyclops is shown but never addressed. X-Men ‘97 should at least address that Cyclops and Havok are brothers but they could also use Havok in other plots related to the Summer’s family. It’s not hard to imagine a storyline where Cyclops and Havok team up against Mr. Sinister to find the youngest Summer’s brother, only to find out their brother is a villain named Vulcan. Depending on how far they want to go they could continue expanding the Summer’s family significantly. Especially when they have already shown Strife and Genesis in the original series.

Magik

Another family I think they should expand on in X-Men ‘97 is the Rasputin family. Colossus is featured in the X-Men animated series a fair amount but his sister Ilyana is only shown briefly. In the comics Ilyana develops a mutant power to teleport and gains supernatural powers after being taken by a villain named Belasco. I feel like Ilyana being kidnapped by Belasco, causing the X-Men to rescue her and triggering her powers would be a worthy episode or series of episodes in X-Men ‘97. Once Ilyana becomes a bigger part of the show they could also introduce her oldest brother Mikhail Rasputin, who is quite a powerful villain in the comics.

Thunderbird

Finally I would like to see the Proudstar brothers as another family more prominently shown in X-Men ‘97. Despite being shown in the opening credits Thunderbird is only shown in one episode of the original series. If we can assume that this is supposed to be John Proudstar his underutilization in the show is arguably a better fate than his relatively long term death in the comics. However, it would be great to see Thunderbird get more screen-time in X-Men ‘97. I’d like them to avoid killing Thunderbird but it might seem redundant to introduce Warpath (John’s brother James Proudstar) without doing so. If they do go that direction I would hope they’d bring back Thunderbird quickly as I think it would be a cool dynamic to have Thunderbird with the X-Men and Warpath with the show’s equivalent of X-Force.