Ideas For X-Men ‘97 Part One

The announcement of X-Men ‘97 (a show that would continue the X-Men animated series that ran from 1992-1997) has me incredibly excited. Although It is likely years away I thought I’d enjoy speculating on what the show will be like mainly in regards to potential plot lines. Many of my thoughts will overlap to some extent but for the sake of clarity I’ll try to discuss my thoughts in 3 categories. Namely, how the show can carry on existing plots, how they can expand on smaller parts of the show and aspects that weren’t in the show at all to my knowledge.

I’m sure the show will be full of surprises but the most logical place to start is with story arcs already hinted at in the show. Admittedly I’m mostly unfamiliar with the X-Men ‘92 comics so I’ll focus only on parts from the show.

Apocalypse

Rewatching the X-Men animated series I was surprised by how often villains end up being at peace with the X-Men or even team up with them. Yet Apocalypse is consistently evil and his last appearance in the show makes him likely to be an antagonist in X-Men ‘97. In his last original series appearance Apocalypse uses Fabian Cortez as a host so he can be resurrected. In my eyes more Apocalypse episodes aren’t the most exciting option for Xmen 97 but they seem highly probable.

Magneto

Unlike Apocalypse, Magneto frequently set aside his issues with the X-Men to team up with them throughout the series. Since the original series ended with Magneto helping send Professor Xavier to the Shiar to save his life I expect magneto will be an ally for the X-Men while Xavier is away and healing.

Mystique

Another villain likely to have a more positive role in the new series is Mystique. She doesn’t work with the X-Men throughout the original series like Magneto but one episode in the series hints at a change of heart. Although the viewing order of X-Men can be a little mixed up, one episode has Mystique feeling remorseful for her actions after a conversation with her son Nightcrawler. I don’t know if Mystique will ever be a formal X-Men, especially with Morph who has similar powers rejoining the team in the final season. However, Mystique centric episodes seem likely in X-Men ‘97.

Onslaught

As I mentioned I think Magneto, Apocalypse and Mystique are super likely to be large parts of X-Men ‘97 and I suppose most other villains in the original run will probably feature as well. Yet I also think there is an extremely powerful villain worth introducing as I think Magneto will be “good” for a while and I feel that no arc with apocalypse will top the 4 part Beyond Good and Evil story he was the antagonist for. So in my eyes the best new threat to introduce in X-Men ‘97 would be Onslaught. In the comics Onslaught is created when Professor X uses a telepathic attack to shut down Magneto’s mind. Onslaught then becomes a nearly unstoppable enemy with the powers of Magneto, Xavier and more. So hypothetically, Apocolypse could be one of the first big villains Magneto and the team fight in ‘97. Then Xavier could return to telepathically attack Magneto when he does not like the extreme direction Magneto takes with the team. This would lead Magneto going evil or (because I like magneto as a good guy) leave the xmen to lead a series version of X-Force. Later, Onslaught could emerge from Xavier’s subconscious requiring Magneto and Xavier to work closely once again. In the comics it takes many marvel heroes from other series to defeat Onslaught but I’d like to see X-Men ‘97, have him be defeated by mutants. Unless they use the Onslaught episodes to launch or tie into new animated shows for spider-man, hulk, iron man and the like.