After two years of waiting, X-Men ’97 season 2 is almost here. The revival of the classic Marvel animated series premiered in 2024 to wide acclaim and ended on a massive cliffhanger. The good news is the wait is over. Season 2 will premiere with three episodes on July 1. Polygon watched the first four episodes (out of nine), and the season is shaping up to be better than anybody could have imagined.
Marvel Studios announced the release schedule for X-Men ’97 season 2 on X (formerly Twitter) today, just one week before it will drop on the Disney+ streaming service. “The countdown to mutant mayhem begins,” the post reads. Over on the official Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel, a new trailer was posted as well. Here are the full details on when every episode releases, as well as the titles for each:
|
Episode |
Title |
Release Date |
|
1 |
Days of Past Future |
July 1 |
|
2 |
A Force to be Reckoned With |
July 1 |
|
3 |
Rise of Apocalypse — Part I |
July 1 |
|
4 |
Rise of Apocalypse — Part II |
July 7 |
|
5 |
Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs |
July 15 |
|
6 |
Danger.exe |
July 22 |
|
7 |
Strange Land, Savage Heart |
July 29 |
|
8 |
The Dead Man’s Hand |
Aug. 5 |
|
9 |
Survival of the Fittest |
Aug. 12 |
Per trailers and our coverage of the first four episodes, we know season two picks up right where the show left off. The X-Men have been scattered across the past, present, and future. This season’s big bad will be the mutant Apocalypse. Professor X, Magneto, Rogue, Beast, and Nightcrawler encounter the villain in 3000 BC Egypt as En Sabah Nur, the first mutant. Meanwhile, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, and Morph fight against Apocalypse in 3960 AD, where he is now a dictator of the world. Trailers show Polaris, Magneto’s daughter who also has the power of magnetism, in the present, and we know adult Cable will also be there.
Based on episode titles, we can glean some idea of what X-Men ’97 has in store for us. The first thing of note is how some episodes play on familiar names of iconic storylines. “Days of Past Future” is clearly an homage to “Days of Future Past,” for example. Episode 7, “Strange Land, Savage Heart,” also brings to mind “Savage Land, Strange Heart,” the name of a two-episode storyline in season three of X-Men: The Animated Series. Notably, “Rise of Apocalypse” is lifted directly from Terry Kavanagh’s 1996 limited comic of the same name, which chronicled the origin of the character and his transformation from En Sabah Nur into to Apocalypse.
Other observations based on the episode titles include “A Force to be Reckoned With.” It brings to mind the X-Force team, which is led by Cable. Episode 5’s inclusion of “Weapon X” in the title suggests it will be a Wolverine-heavy episode. Episode 6 will focus on the comic character Danger (the X-Men’s danger room brought to life as a sentient villain) based on the title and appearances of the character in trailers. Perhaps most enticing is “The Dead Man’s Hand,” which feels like an overt reference to Gambit, who seemingly perished in season one. Though X-Men rarely stay dead for long. Whatever season 2 actually has in store, it won’t be long until all is revealed.
The second season of X-Men ’97 premiers on Disney+ July 1.