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X-Men 97 season 2: what we know about the hit Marvel show's return on Disney Plus
Here's everything we know so far about X-Men 97 season 2, which is in development at Marvel Studios.
- No release date announced yet
- Development at the midway point, so unlikely to arrive until 2025
- Season 2 scripts completed before showrunner Beau DeMayo's surprise sacking
- Main cast all expected to return
- Should pick up story threads from the season 1 finale
- Comic books might provide answers about the direction of season 2's plot
- Tentative talks about a third season have taken place
X-Men 97 season 2 might be the most highly anticipated project in development at Marvel Studios.
Despite being a sequel to the 90s classic X-Men: The Animated Series (X:TAS), few people expected X-Men 97's first season to be as big of a hit as it was on Disney Plus. Indeed, it's put many of its contemporaries, including other Marvel Phase 5 productions, in the shade and proved that there's an audience for animated offerings of a similar quality (we're not naming names, What If?...). from the comic book giant.
But we digress. You're here to learn more about X-Men 97's sophomore outing. Below, we've rounded up the most important information we can find ahead of its return, including its potential release date, likely cast list, possible story threads, and more. Full spoilers follow for X-Men 97 season 1.
X-Men 97 season 2 release date: what we know
Marvel hasn't confirmed when we'll see the X-Men's latest animated series return on one of the world's best streaming services. A second season is in development, though, and has been since July 2022 (per Variety).
According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), season 2's scripts were completed before X-Men 97's showrunner Beau DeMayo parted ways with Marvel ahead of season 1's debut in March. The reason for DeMyao's unexpected departure hasn't been made public, but he's since confirmed (via X/Twitter) that he won't be involved in script rewrites or other phases of its production moving forward.
Thank you. I did write a lot of season 2. However, unlike Season 1, I will not be heavily involved or leading production, cast records, design, editorial, post, music, etc., nor doing any production rewrites as it relates to the creative vision of the show. #xmen97May 17, 2024
Ahead of X-Men 97 season 1's finale, Lenore Zann – who voiced Rogue – told NexusPointNews that she'd completed recording lines for one of the best Disney Plus shows' next entry. It's unclear if the rest of the cast have done likewise.
So, when can we expect X-Men 97 season 2 to be released? Speaking to ComicBook.com, Marvel Head of Television Brad Winderbaum insinuated it wouldn't be with us for some time as season 2 is still in its "animatic phase". Elaborating further to IGN, Winderbaum confirmed that the team was about "halfway through" development. In short: don't expect X-Men 97 to return to our screens until mid to late 2025 at the earliest.
X-Men 97 season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored
Full spoilers follow for X-Men 97 season 1.
Here's who we expect to see again in X-Men 97 season 2:
- Ray Chase as Scott Summers/Cyclops
- Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey
- Alison Sealy-Smith as Ororo Munroe/Storm
- Cal Dodd as James 'Logan' Howlett/Wolverine
- J.P. Karliak as Morph
- Lenore Zann as Rogue
- George Buza as Doctor Henry 'Hank' McCoy/The Beast
- Holly Chou as Jubilee
- Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop
- Matthew Waterson as Erik 'Magnus' Lehnsherr/Magneto
- Ross Marquand as Professor Charles Xavier
- Adrian Hough as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
- Gui Augustini as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot
- Chris Potter as Nathan Summers/Cable
- Gil Birmingham as Forge
There are bound to be other returning faces (or, rather, voices) in season 2. Catherine Disher should be back as U.N. official and mutant sympathizer Doctor Valerie Cooper, as should Rob Rubin as U.S. President Robert Kelly and Martha Marion as Emma Frost.
As for more spoiler-based returns, Adetokumboh M'Cormack is likely to re-enter the recording booth as En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse across X-men 97's three timelines (more on the show's time-traveling storylines in a moment). Gates McFadden is another who we'd expect to be back as Mother Askani (again, she's tied to X-Men 97's far-flung future narrative). Lastly, A.J. LoCascio could voice Remy LeBeau/Gambit again if En Sabah Nur resurrects the deceased mutant as one of his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
X-Men 97 season 2 story speculation
Major story spoilers follow for X-Men 97 season 1.
Marvel hasn't detailed what we can expect from X-Men 97 season 2, but there's plenty we can infer about its plot direction, given what happened in the season 1 finale. Before reading on, you'll want to read our X-Men 97 season 1 ending explained article to see what its 10th and final episode – 'Tolerance Is Extinction Part 3' – sets up for the show's next installment.
All caught up? Splendid. Now you know that X-Men 97 season 2 will, in its early episodes at the very least, be set across three timelines: the present (1997 in-universe), almost three millennia in the past (3000 B.C. in Ancient Egypt, to be precise), and the future, 3980 A.D.
Let's start with those who are seemingly trapped in the past. As the season 1 finale revealed, the X-Men were separated across these time periods, with Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Rogue, and Nightcrawler being sent back in time. They help to thwart a gang attack on an Egyptian town, which is where they're introduced to – or, rather, reunited with – En Sabah Nur.
Why "reunited"? Because the super group battled Apocalypse in X:TAS. The fact that some of them cross paths with him again, albeit in his pre-Apocalypse form, is incredibly fascinating. Not only will they potentially have to work with Nur to stop a greater threat (more on this shortly), but they may even have the chance to help Nur walk a more righteous path, thereby stopping him from becoming Apocalypse in the first place. Well, unless his evolution into Apocalypse is one of those fixed points on the Marvel timeline that can't be altered.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if the aforementioned quintet gets involved in Nur's ongoing war with his rival, none other than Kang the Conqueror – albeit in one of his many guises as Egyptian Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Of equal intrigue will be how much we see of Rama-Tut, given that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) seems to be moving away from Kang as the Multiverse Saga's new Thanos-level threat following Marvel's firing of Kang actor Jonathan Majors. Indeed, rumors abound that Marvel might be done with the villain in a live-action capacity altogether, so X-Men 97 season 2 might be the only project we see him in moving forward.
#XMen97 is now at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes — based on 73 reviews
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