The debut of X-Men ‘97 on Disney+ has issued in a new era of familiar heroes as it plays on nostalgia from the 1990s with its predecessor series, X-Men: The Animated Series. The series has implemented new storylines within the beloved human-mutant world. According to Collider, new information has been released on what fans should anticipate for the series’ in-progress second season.
Brad Winderbaum (Ant-Man, Thor: Ragnarok), the executive producer for X-Men ‘97, shared that two additional X-teams will be featured in the upcoming season, saying specifically, “there’s many teams, In Marvel, that have the letter “X” that are followed by a hyphen. I’ll put it to you like this…there’s two other X teams in season two,” as per Collider.
In early August, Disney announced at their D23 Convention that season two will incorporate new heroes into the ensemble, including Lady Deathstrike, Polaris, Havoc, Sabertooth and Warlock, according to mxdwn. Using the announcement of debuting heroes, Collider hypothesized that the two X teams that could be featured in season two are X-Factor and Weapon X-Men, based on varying comic book team-ups.
Fans can also look forward to new animated costuming in the upcoming season. Collider shared that season two will feature new suits inspired by the comic series New X-Men, which is written by Grant Morrison (Batman R.I.P., Superman and the Authority) and features the art of Frank Quietly (All-Star Superman Vol. 2, Jupiter’s Legacy).
The anticipation for season two of X-Men ‘97 comes from the success of its first season, with the season’s last episode currently taking the spot as Disney+’s most-watched full-length animated series finale, according to mxdwn. However, the release of season two will require some patience. According to mxdwn, Jake Castorena (Batman Unlimited, Batman: The Killing Joke), director of X-Men ‘97, made the comparison of developing an animated season to that of baking a cake, saying that you do not want to ruin the cake by baking it too fast.
While season two is in production, season three is in development as well. Mxdwn reported that Matthew Chauncey (Thor: Love and Thunder, What If…?) will write X-Men ‘97 season three.