'X-Men '97' Season 1 Retrospective: How A Game Changing Mid-Season Twist Redefined What Fans Could Expect From The Series

With the premiere of the second season of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 on the horizon, many fans are eagerly rewatching the first season in preparation. A continuation of the 90s classic X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men '97 premiered in March of 2024 to rave reviews from critics, and high viewership numbers that only grew higher due to positive word of mouth over the series run.

Made with it's now grown up original audience in mind, X-Men '97 was able to tackle more adult themes, but few imagined just how dark it would go. Let's look back at what the original series accomplished, the early episodes of X-Men '97, and the mid-point twist that changed everything.

X-Men: The Animated Series

X-Men: The Animated Series aired for five seasons between 1992 and 1997. Fox initially had little faith in the series, ordering just 13 episodes and firing the writers as soon as those episodes were complete. However, X-Men became an instant hit, and Fox were left scrambling to reassemble the writing staff for a second season.

For many viewers, the series was their first experience with serialised storytelling, making X-Men true appointment viewing. Many fans have shared memories of eagerly rushing home from school to avoid missing the next part of a story. The series adapted classic comic stories such as the 'Dark Phoenix Saga' and 'Days of Future Past', and is often considered the best screen adaptation of the characters. X-Men also shared a universe with Spider-Man: The Animated series, when it began airing in 1994.

However, despite it’s accomplishments, the content of X-Men: The Animated Series was still bound by its status as a cartoon airing on Fox Kids. Jean's 'death' in the Phoenix Saga is reversed much sooner than in the comics. Even the 'death' of Professor Xavier in the finale is prevented by his instead being in a coma and shipped away to the Shi'ar Empire, where his lover Queen Lilandra promises to cure him.

X-Men '97, eps 1-4

When X-Men '97 was announced for Disney Plus, and said to be being made with the original audience in mind, fans had hope for the series exploring darker stories and themes. However, these hopes were also tempered by the series Disney connections.

The first four episodes of X-Men '97 were well received by fans and critics. While capturing the spirit and essence of the original series, these episodes had some twists and turns, like Professor Xavier leaving control of the X-Men to Magneto in his will, and the loss of Storm's powers. The show even tackles the story of Jean Grey's clone, Madelyne Pryor, briefly ontrolled by Mr Sinister to become the villain Goblin Queen, and the heartbreaking decision to send Nathan, Cyclops and Madelyne's techno-virus infected infant son, to the future for his only chance at a cure.

While the above stories were darker and more complicated than anything in the original, they were more or less in line with what fans had been expecting from X-Men '97.

One event turned those expectations upside down.

A Brief History of Genosha

The Genocide of Genosha is one of the most horrifying events in the X-Men comics, if not Marvel Comics overall. Occurring in 2001's New X-Men run, Genosha has become a haven for mutants, until Cassandra Nova, Charles Xavier's evil twin sister, unleashes a Wild Sentinel upon the island, slaughtering nearly the entire population. As many as 16 million lives are believed to have been lost to the massacre.

While a pivotal event in X-Men history that continues to have a ripple effect even in present day comics, it was once assumed the full Genosha plotline was much too dark to ever be depicted on screen.

Genosha appeared in a few episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series, first as an island where Mutants are imprisoned and forced to work as slaves. Towards the end of the series, Genosha is fully liberated by Magneto, who takes control of the Island and sequestered it from the world as he plans to turn it into the Mutant haven it appears as in the comics. In the series finale, the X-Men reluctantly infiltrate Magneto's Genoshan headquarters to offer him the chance to say goodbye to Professor Xavier. However, the series ended a few years before the Genocide occurred in the comics.

Genosha is referenced in the early episodes of X-Men '97 as now populated almost solely by Mutants. Magneto has the Morlocks, Mutants with visually obvious physical mutations previously living in hiding in the sewer, transported to Genosha for safety after rescuing them from the Friends of Humanity in episode 2.

Fans aware of the Island's comic history naturally cringed at these early references, but still didn't expect the full horror of the genocide to be shown onscreen.

"Sugar.. I can't feel you."

X-Men '97's fifth episode, 'Rememember It..' opens with Magneto, Rogue, and Gambit arriving in Genosha for a gala celebrating Genosha's acceptance as a sovereign nation and admittance into the United Nations. At first, it is every bit the Mutant Utopia that Magneto had promised. However, just as the gala is getting underway, disaster strikes as a Sentinel attacks, killing indiscriminately.

The deaths are not just random Mutant extras either. They are named, known supporting characters, like Banshee, Callisto, and Madelyne Pryor. The most shocking death is that of Gambit, a full-fledged member of the X-Men. Gambit, at least, gets a heroic exit, taking the Sentinel with him, but Rogue's reaction to his loss is heartbreaking.

Fans, understandably, were shocked. In one episode, X-Men '97 completely reset expectations of what kind of show it was going to be, proving it wasn't afraid to go to the darkest places the X-Men could go if it served the story. The series also doesn't shy away from the political fallout of the attack, able to touch on these issues in a way that was not possible in the original show. Perhaps even more significantly, the events in Genosha were not undone via time travel. Cable tries, but the events are fixed.

The rest of the season kept fans on the edge of their seats, and now eagerly awaiting seeing the X-Men take on Apocalypse in X-Men '97 season two, hitting Disney Plus on July 1, 2026.