Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 X-Men '97 finale.
The Big Picture
- X-Men '97 Season 1 ended with peace for Xavier and Magneto, saving Earth from extinction.
- Season 1's finale featured multiple Marvel Universe cameos, including Spider-Man and Doctor Doom.
- 'Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3' teases Magneto's family ties and the pictures on Forge's wall show mutants like Kitty Pryde.
X-Men '97 ended its first season on the highest of notes, while also setting the stage for its second season. Not only did the X-Men save the Earth from the dangers of Operation: Zero Tolerance (and an extinction-level event) but Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand) and Magneto (Matthew Waterson) were able to find a measure of peace. It also features a surprising number of cameos, both from the X-Men mythos and the general Marvel Universe. "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 1" took a similar approach, including X-Men foes like the Silver Samurai and Omega Red, while also featuring other Marvel characters like Spider-Man and Doctor Doom. "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3" kicks things up a notch by increasing the cameos and teasing the appearance of a fan-favorite X-Men character.
X-Men '97
A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they're challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
Spider-Man Reappears in ‘X-Men ’97’ and He’s Not Alone
Spider-Man has been a constant presence throughout Season 1 of X-Men '97, whether it's in the red-and-blue covered flesh or via news articles featuring photographs from his alter ego Peter Parker. It's not surprising, as Spider-Man: The Animated Series was just as much of a draw as X-Men: The Animated Series. Peter Parker does make one final appearance in "Tolerance is Extinction - Part 3", as he's among a crowd watching the news that Asteroid M will impact Earth. But he isn't alone, as his wife Mary Jane Watson joins him. Anyone who watched the final season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series knows that it ended with Spidey traveling through time and space to find MJ after she was replaced with a clone by one of his enemies. Her appearance in X-Men '97 hints that Spidey was successful, and lays the groundwork for a potential revival of Spider-Man: The Animated Series down the line.
Daredevil, Doctor Strange, & the Avengers Make Appearances in ‘X-Men ’97′
Spider-Man isn't the only Marvel hero who shows up in "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3". Daredevil winds up fighting Prime Sentinels in Hell's Kitchen, while Captain America (Josh Keaton) and Iron Man protect President Robert Kelly from the machines. The Man Without Fear also gets some help in the form of Cloak and Dagger, a pair of teenage runaways turned superheroes. Doctor Strange also shows up, but the Sorcerer Supreme is in the middle of an operation when Magneto's electromagnetic pulse is reversed. One of the biggest appearances features the Black Panther, who successfully defends his kingdom of Wakanda from a Prime Sentinel invasion. However this Black Panther is T'Chaka, the father of T'Challa, which is an interesting shakeup. The Black Panther and the X-Men's lives become intertwined when T'Challa rekindles a childhood romance with Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) in the comics, leading to the two getting married. Morph (J.P. Karliak) also briefly shape shifts into Mister Fantastic, linking the 1994 Fantastic Four animated series to X-Men '97's continuity.
Other Mutants, Good & Evil, Show Up in 'X-Men '97'
Even though "Tolerance is Extinction - Part 3" addresses the status of other mutants. Silver Samurai and Omega Red both make a reappearance, with the latter having joined forces with the Winter Guard. The Winter Guard are Russia's answer to the Avengers, with each member corresponding to one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The two members of Winter Guard who fight alongside Omega Red are the Crimson Dynamo, who possesses armor similar to Iron Man, and Darkstar, who can tap into the powers of the Darkforce Dimension. The last time the Winter Guard encountered Omega Red in X-Men: The Animated Series they wound up putting him back in stasis. Other members of the Winter Guard, including White Widow and Red Guardian, will be appearing in next year's Thunderbolts.
The mutant team known as Alpha Flight also makes an appearance; their membership consists of the dimunitive yet super strong Puck, the lightning fast twins Aurora and Northstar, and Sasquatch. Alpha Flight is based out of Canada, and previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series when they attempted to bring Wolverine (Cal Dodd) back to Department H. Alpha Flight is also joined by Betsy Braddock, aka Psylocke, a powerful telepath capable of forming psychic energy into weaponry. Psylocke was a popular member of the X-Men in the '90's, even joining Cyclops' Blue Team.
Magneto’s Family Ties Are Teased in ‘X-Men ’97′
Most of "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3' is set within Xavier and Magento's shared mindscape, as the Master of Magnetism is literally drowning in his own grief. He briefly sees a vision of his loved ones, including Rogue (Lenore Zann) and three other mutants, aboard a boat. Those mutants are Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Polaris. All three of them were Magneto's children, and unlike him they took a different path in life. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver joined the Avengers, while Polaris became part of X-Factor in X-Men: The Animated Series. Morph even briefly shapeshifted into Quicksilver during the episode "Bright Eyes." Interestingly enough, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are confirmed to be off world by the end of "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3", meaning that they don't know their father is lost in time with the rest of the X-Men.
Forge's List of Mutants Includes Kitty Pryde
After the X-Men are presumed dead, Forge (Gil Birmingham) is shown keeping track of every mutant left on Earth. Forge's board of mutants is a visual homage to the classic Days of Future Past storyline, with mutants being marked as "dead", "missing" or "off-world." There's even a few familiar faces: the steel skinned Colossus and his sister Magik, Emma Frost, Iceman and Havok. But the biggest name has to be Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat. First appearing in Uncanny X-Men #129, Kitty used her budding powers of intangibility to help save the X-Men from the Hellfire Club, and quickly became a major part of the team. Kitty was one of the few mutants who never appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, but her presence hints that Forge is looking to build a new team of mutants to protect the world in the X-Men's absence.
Season 1 of X-Men '97 is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
