Disney+ has brought X-Men ‘97 back for season 2, focusing on Nathan’s journey with his parents, Cyclops and Jean, while trying to take down Apocalypse. X-Men ‘97 has returned with a familiar voice cast, including Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Chris Potter, and Gil Birmingham.
Season 1 of X-Men ‘97 primarily focused on the team trying to move on and work together without Professor Xavier, and learning to be led by Magneto. Magneto’s attempts to fulfill Charles’ dream included Genosha, a sanctuary for mutants. But when a devastating attack silences this dream, the war for humanity faced a new threat involving an evolution of Sentinels. This season will be primarily focused on Apocalypse and his need to have Nathan aka Cable, who has been the target of enemies since birth.
X-Men ’97 has demonstrated that the medium can effectively explore complicated emotions on par with live-action. And in this episode, it has done a great job of doing just that. Episode 1 of season 2 immediately establishes a strong connection to the original films and comics while moving the characters forward. There’s a strong balance of nostalgia with emotional storytelling throughout this episode.
The episode brings back Nathan/“Cable”, Cyclops, Jean, Bishop, Forge, and Storm. The use of time travel is an important piece of this episode, which is essential for the show in itself. The show focuses on the 90s, and as a whole, it’s pretty fitting with us currently being in 2026.
In this episode, we see separate events: one with Bishop, Wolverine, and Storm, while Forge, Cyclops, Jean, and Nathan are together. Jean and Cyclops work together to protect and teach their son the realities of being someone with powers. At one point, the three separate themselves from Forge as they try to do things their own way. Meanwhile, Storm and Bishop find themselves reminiscing on the past and express their current feelings for each other after not seeing one another for a while. Apocalypse uses whatever opportunity he can to take Nathan, but the numbers and agility don’t work in his favor.
One theme that the episode focuses on is family and legacy. The episode explores what family means beyond traditional definitions. Nathan’s presence highlights themes of legacy and connection between generations. His character design visually reflects both Jean and Cyclops, reinforcing the idea of inherited traits and identity. As we already know what he looks like from season 1, it’s still important to note his visual design. The second theme that this episode focuses on is guilt and responsibility. We notice that there are a few characters who are vocally dealing with moving forward while carrying past mistakes.
Nathan, Cyclops, and Jean are defending themselves in one scene. The animated details are amazing when they are being attacked. Through complex injuries, fire effects, explosions, shooting, and environmental movement, the images highlight impact. The action throughout the episode is precisely rendered, with elements like flames, shifting winds, and exploding effects giving each scene more weight.
Overall, this was a great episode, and they did an incredible job with the introduction to season 2 of X-Men ‘97. We see Nathan Summers centered in this episode, as he maneuvers some personal growth. Chris Potter and Michael Johnston do an amazing job in this episode as Nathan, also known as Cable. While Potter’s focus is on Cable, the adult version of Nathan, we saw more of Johnston’s role as young Nathan in this episode. It’s exciting to see where this season will take us as the story focuses on redemption and defeating Apocalypse.
Rating: 10/10