Marvel Animation won over fans old and new in 2024 with X-Men ’97. Now, the mutants are back with a highly anticipated second season full of action, drama and the characters we all know and love. Here is everything that happened in season one to refresh your memory in preparation for this new instalment. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
To Me, My X-Men
In response to Charles’ death at the hands of Henry Peter Gyrich, the X-Men are now legally sanctioned by the UN, putting them in a difficult situation. While coming to terms with this change, the team work together to save a young mutant, by the name of Roberto da Costa, held captive by the anti-mutant group Friends of Humanity, who are using Sentinel technology to kill mutants. This then leads the team to Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask, whom they track down in the Sahara, destroying the Master Mold supercomputer in the process.
The team also find out that Charles left both the X-Men and the school in the hands of Magneto when he passed away. As Magneto swears he has changed and will refrain from his old ways, UN forces come to arrest him for his past acts of terrorism. During his trial, the leader of the FoH, named the X-Cutioner, attacks Magneto and the X-Men, leading to Storm getting caught in the crossfire with a blast of radiation that permanently removes all of her abilities. Magneto is eventually pardoned when he apprehends the X-Cutioner, leading the way for discussions to take place about Genosha joining the UN.
Madelyne Pryor
During the attack at the UN HQ, Jean went into labour with her baby, giving birth to a boy whom she and Scott named Nathan. As Storm decides to leave the team, a woman who looks identical to Jean arrives at the X-Mansion, throwing Scott and the rest of the team into confusion. This look-alike turns out to be the real Jean Grey, with the other Jean, under Mister Sinister’s control, transforming into the Goblin Queen.
While hiding out in one of Sinister’s labs, the look-alike infects Nathan with a techno-organic virus in the hopes of making him invincible. The real Jean uses her telepathy to show the doppelgänger their shared memories, which frees her from Sinister’s control. Nathan is handed to Bishop, who takes him to the future to find a cure for the virus he is infected with, whilst the other Jean renames herself Madelyne Pryor.
Roberto and Jubilee vs Mojo
Meanwhile, on her 18th birthday, Jubilee and Roberto are pulled into a “Motendo” video game console, created by the alien slaver Mojo, that randomly appeared in her room. Whilst in the game, she gets to relive past missions from throughout her time with the X-Men. They come across Abscissa, an older digital copy of herself from an earlier version of the game, who helps them defeat Mojo and return to the real world.
Storm Forges Her Powers
At the same time as Jubilee and Roberto’s digital dilemma, Storm meets another mutant called Forge, who says he can help her restore the powers she lost. At his ranch, Forge presents a machine that can give Storm back her powers, but she soon leaves in anger when she finds out Forge was the one who initially designed the tech for X-Cutioner’s radiation gun and mutant inhibitor collars.
During this time, Storm notices an owl that later reveals itself as the entity Adversary. After confronting the Adversary, it returns her to the ranch and poisons Forge. Her encounter with the entity triggers a breakthrough within her, allowing Storm to accept her identity and, in turn, restoring her abilities.
Remember It, Mon Ami
As Jean struggles to determine which memories are Madelyne’s or hers, Magneto, Rogue and Gambit visit Genosha, where they are greeted by Nightcrawler when they arrive. The Genoshan council ask Magneto to lead the country, which he agrees to only on the condition that Rogue, with whom he’s been in a secret relationship, leads alongside him.
During a gala in honour of Genosha joining the UN, Cable, whom Madelyne realises is an adult Nathan, arrives from the future to warn everyone of an impending attack that commences as soon as he shows up. An upgraded Master Mold along with an army of Sentinels, wreaks havoc on Genosha, killing thousands of mutants, including Gambit, who sacrifices himself to destroy the Master Mold once and for all.
Professor X Lives!
Whilst death and destruction take place on Earth, it is revealed that a now-healed Charles Xavier is to be engaged to Shi’ar empress Lilandra. After being challenged by Deathbird, Lilandra’s sister, to purge his memories of the X-Men and humanity, Xavier refuses and proceeds to educate the Shi’ar on co-existence while in the astral plane. During his lesson, Charles learns of Gambit’s death, leading him to return to Earth.
Dark Times
Elsewhere, Mister Sinister confronts Trask, who warns him that Genosha was just the beginning. After Gambit’s funeral, Rogue searches for Gyrich and Trask. She eventually finds Gyrich in Mexico, where she absorbs his memories, and after receiving a terrified message from Trask telling the X-Men he is in Madripoor, Rogue proceeds to drop him to his death, unknowingly turning him into a human–Sentinel hybrid. Cable defeats Trask with an EMP and reveals to the team that Sinister is working with a threat known as Bastion, who had murdered Gyrich during their fight in Madripoor and is holding Magneto alive as a prisoner after the Genosha attack.
The UN reveals to the world that Charles is still alive, which leads to anti-mutant protests outside the school. Cyclops, Jean, and Cable travel to Pennsylvania, where they learn that Bastion is a human–machine hybrid who was conceived after his father was infected with part of the advanced, time-travelling Sentinel Nimrod. At the same time, humans around the world who have been infected with Sinister’s techno-organic virus are activated by Bastion, turning them into Prime Sentinels who proceed to attack and burn down Xavier’s school.
Dr Cooper, who has been monitoring Bastion, finds Magneto and frees him. He creates a worldwide blackout that shuts down all of the Prime Sentinels but kills thousands of people in the process. Xavier returns and summons the X-Men, focusing their efforts on stopping Bastion despite their distrust towards their former leader. Meanwhile, Magneto re-establishes his mutant haven on Asteroid M, where he is initially joined by Rogue and Roberto.
The Explosive Finale and the Dawn of Apocalypse
The X-Men split into two teams. Cyclop’s blue team heads to Asteroid M while Storm and Jean’s gold team infiltrate Bastion’s hideout in the Galápagos Islands. Gold team battles Sinister and an army of Bastion-controlled Sentinels. Sinister takes control of Cable’s mind, using him to overpower Jean, who sends a desperate psychic message to Cyclops. On Asteroid M, Magneto blocks Xavier’s attempt to take control of his mind. Wolverine stabs Magneto, only for him to rip the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton, leaving him fighting for his life.
Charles eventually takes control of Magneto, allowing him to both restore power to Earth and fracture his mind. Jean channels the Phoenix energy to place the collar Beast and Forge designed on Bastion, turning the Prime Sentinels back into their human forms and reversing Sinister’s mutant augmentations, freeing Cable. The team fight Bastion as he attempts to crash Asteroid M into Earth, killing all life on the planet. As U.S. government missiles fly towards the asteroid in the hopes of destroying it, Magneto, with the Xavier’s help, regains consciousness and sends the asteroid into space. The asteroid explodes, and most of the X-Men are presumed dead.
The season ends on a cliffhanger with the team trapped in different points in time. Cyclops and Jean are in 3960 A.D., where they encounter a young Nathan and Mother Askani, whereas Nightcrawler, Rogue, Beast and Charles end up in Ancient Egypt and come face to face with En Sabah Nur, a young version of Apocalypse. A mid-credit scene also sees a present-day Apocalypse finding one of Gambit’s playing cards in the wreckage of Genosha. Where season two goes from here is anyone’s guess!
Season two of X-Men ’97 premieres on Disney+ on July 1, 2026.
