The second season of X-Men ‘97 hits the ground running, finding our lovable band of mutants separated across time. While one team is stranded in the ancient past, the other fights to survive in the future. The first two episodes set the mood up for the rest of the nine-episode season, which seems to center on the X-Men battling it off against the iconic mutant overlord, Apocalypse.
The first episode brings us to a bleak future where Jean Grey and Cyclops finally get a chance to spend time with their son, Nathan, whom they had sent to the future to protect him from a virus that inhabits his body. It may be a chance for Jean Grey and Cyclops to reunite with their son but this is a timeline where Apocalypse is at absolute height of his power. The undying mutant is coming for Nathan, seeking to claim the boy’s unique body as the perfect immortal vessel for his consciousness.
The second episode shifts focus to the modern era, following the grown-up Nathan, now known as Cable, as he recruits Jubilee and Sunspot to hunt down any trace of Apocalypse. Their mission gets in the crosshairs with X-Factor, the government’s mutant task force. What follows is a thrilling, explosive clash between X-Factor versus Cable’s makeshift X-Force.
Much like the first season, each episode covers a whole range of comic book condensed into an enjoyable 22-30 minute episode. While narrative beats are quick and the character arcs go through the motions at a record pace, the series maintains its energy going and it gives you everything you could ask for in its roughly 30-minute runtime. A show like this feels better binged than watched episodic so it’s good that the first three episodes will drop in bulk. Fortunately, Disney+ launched the premier with a bulk drop of the first three episodes, followed by weekly releases leading us to the grand finale on August 12.
Funnily enough, the second episode features a completely different opening sequence. If each episode follows suit, it will be interesting to see how these storylines and rapidly expanding character rosters ultimately converge in the finale. If they plan to finish off the entire Apocalypse storyline in this season – rumours have it that Season 3 and 4 are already in active development – it would need a huge cast to take down this big bad.
With its bite-sized episodes, the series does an admirable job of giving us some meaningful highlights for each character. The premiere grants both Jean Grey and Storm great scenes, while the second episode shines a well-deserved spotlight on Jubilee. Additionally, the darker themes it explores, especially regarding Cable and his methods, are pretty interesting addition to the show.
A lot of the storylines that I’m aware of have already been tackled in season one so I’m seeing the last few adaptations of the books I read back in the 90s in these episodes. However, the show takes significant liberties with X-Factor. While they were one of my favourite groups in the source material, they seem to have been noticeably rewritten here to simplify the story and avoid overcomplicating things too much.
Having separated the team means that viewers might want to stick around and see how everyone and everything comes together. This feels like a full-on story now, having found success in the first season; they can be more playful with their narrative choices on this one.
If they keep this up, this will be a fun watch.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Ready to see if the team can stop Apocalypse? Watch X-Men ’97 Season 2 now streaming on Disney+.
