The first season of X-Men ’97 proved it a worthy follow-up to the beloved 1990s animated series, a speed-run through a heaping helping of classic X-Men stories filled with both ‘member berries (Madelyne Pryor! Prime Sentinels! Fatal Attractions!) and genuinely emotional, gut-punch moments (“de name is Gambit…”). Ever since it wrapped, fans have been eagerly awaiting word on the announced second season, and as of today, we have both a launch date (July 1st) and a trailer for X-Men ‘97 Season 2. It is packed to the gills with new characters, old characters with new looks, and the promise of more exciting adaptations of old X-Men stories you know and love (or at least know).
To dig in even further on what might be in store for us in X-Men ’97 Season 2, we combed through every second of the trailer and captured all the Easter Eggs and references. As you’ll see, there’s…a lot, especially for a trailer that clocks in at just under two minutes.
Check ’em all out below, and if you want to watch the trailer in full, you can find it here:
Marvel Animation’s X-Men ‘97 Season 2 | Official Trailer
Also, be sure to revisit our reviews of all the first season’s episodes here.
00:25 — Austin: We’re obviously back in ancient Egypt for at least one of the scattered X-Men timelines. This looks to be either classic Fantastic Four villain/Kang version Rama-Tut, who canonically was pharaoh when Apocalypse rose to power (per the late 90s Rise of Apocalypse miniseries). This could also be Ozymandias (who served Rama-Tut before becoming a servant of Apocalypse).
00:27 — Austin: Apocalypse as he appeared in Rise of Apocalypse.
00:30 — Austin: This looks an awful lot like the former fortress of Apocalypse used as headquarters by Genesis/Cable’s son in Cable #17-19.
00:32 — Adam: Lil’ Cable from The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix.
00:33 — Austin: Ship?
Adam: Hey that’s Prosh to you, buddy.
Austin: Or maybe some other Celestial craft, from which Apocalypse gained much of technology (again, per Rise of Apocalypse).
00:43 — Austin: That’s Polaris, mistress of magnetism, walking into the (empty) X-Mansion (presumably). Polaris (somewhat inexplicably) received a fairly significant profile boost in the wake of the live-action series The Gifted, and it’s been said she’ll have a significant role in the second season of this series – and she certainly pops up in a number of places throughout this trailer.
00:44 — Austin: There’s a picture of Polaris with Iceman, who had a brief romance in the Silver Age X-Men book and were previously a couple in the animated universe per the episode “Cold Comfort.”
00:45 — Austin: There’s also a picture of the Silver Age X-Men in their graduation uniforms (first donned in X-Men #39) along with Polaris in her “Queen of the Mutants” garb from her first appearance.
Adam: Suspiciously no Havok! Also, this is Mimic erasure!
00:51 — Austin: Scott and Jean in their Morrison/Quitely Era jackets, from the early 2000s.
00:53 — Austin: Sunspot flying in his Greg Capullo-designed X-Force suit, circa 1993.
00:54 — Austin: Jubilee in her back jumpsuit 2010s look (which is itself an evolution of her Generation X uniform from the 90s).
1:08 — Austin: The Sentinels flying past Cable seem like a new design, not one lifted from a comic.
1:10 — Austin: This is, I think, Storm, though I’m not sure why her hair is yellow, wearing a version of the X-Men training uniform (which she most consistently wore as “Kid Storm” in the latter end of Claremont’s original run.
Adam: Is this Storm? I kept assuming it was Shard because of the hair which makes zero sense either.
1:13 — Austin: Colossus and a teenaged (?) Illyana (??).
Adam: Uh oh. She dead.
1:14 — Austin: Those new Sentinels descend on what is probably an X-Corp building. X-Corp is the global mutant-promoting company established in Joe Casey’s early 00s run, and later dusted off in the Krakoa Era.
1:15 — Adam: Exodus and Danger? In this economy?!?
1:16 — Austin: Cable polishing his gun (not a euphemism).
1:21 — Austin: Colossus, probably, in the uniform of one of Magneto’s Acolytes (from the time when the 90s dumped all over him and he quit the X-Men and threw in with Magneto). On the memorial, we have Illyana, Squid Boy (maybe, but probably, given how much this trailer is culling from the early 00s), Callisto, Gambit (ofc) and Marrow.
Adam: Man, Marrow’s having a rough week with this and Infernal Hulk #7.
1:26 — Adam: Are we doing The Twelve?
1:28 — Austin: Shot of Storm in her Classic Cockrum attire.
1:29 — Austin: A Brood from behind as Morph, uh, morphs into Deadpool.
1:30 — Austin: Psylocke, with Archangel (who pops up elsewhere in the trailer) behind her. The two first became romantically linked shortly after “Phalanx Covenant” and just before “Age of Apocalypse.” Psylocke appeared in the first season, but only as a form taken by Morph.
1:33 — Austin: Polaris again, but in her Peter David/Larry Stroman/”Cold Comfort” X-Factor suit.
1:34 — Adam: Mags has a stache AND a scar.
1:35 — Adam: Emma Frost thinks deeply about turning your brain off after you stole her Diet Coke from the X-Fridge.
Austin: Given the other lifts from the Morrison Era and its contemporaries (and the big role Emma played in their run), I suspect we’ll get a higher profile role for the White Queen this season.
1:38 — Adam: Polaris is PISSED, Quentin Quire (complete with a Magneto Was Right shirt) , Chamber, someone injured, Penance, and Synch.
Austin: Another big Morrison figure in Quire, and Generation X hive, rise up!
1:43 — Austin: Nightcrawler with his priest collar in a look approximating this cover from the Chuck Austen Era.
Adam: ugh.
1:53 – Austin: An homage to the cover of Claremont and Miller’s Wolverine #1.
Overall Thoughts
Austin: Well Adam, now that we’ve dissected it, how are you feeling about this trailer as a tease for the new season.
Adam: Okay, I’ll admit it. They got me. I wasn’t a superfan of the first season’s speedrunning through multiple storylines in a single episode approach, but it had its moments. And this looks fun! Here’s hoping they slow the pace enough for more character moments so it’s more than just [LeoPointing.gif] every few minutes (I realize that’s exactly what we’re doing here). I’ll be tuning in.
Austin: Agreed. I was dubious about the need to revisit the animated series (which, outside the gloss of nostalgia, is much more uneven than many people remember, particularly in its back half), but the Genosha episode of X-Men ’97 really sealed the deal for me in terms of the value of adapting in animation additional/later X-Men stories. I too found my joy at seeing particular characters or storylines get adapted being tempered by the extreme velocity through which X-Men ’97 Season 1 sped through/past many of those stories and characters, so I’m hoping what we’re seeing in this trailer isn’t material from just, like, the first two episodes of season 2.
Either way, this is a well-cut trailer that lays out the initial stakes for the start of the new season while teasing some big moments and new characters/new roles for established characters, all the while pumping up the viewer. I
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him @austingorton.bsky.social.
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom. Follow him @adamreck.bsky.social.
