As we first reported on Toonado.com, X-Men '97 promo art has fully pulled back the curtain on what to expect from Season 2. When we last saw many of the mutant heroes, Cyclops and Jean Grey were tuck in a desolate 3960 A.D., while Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Xavier, and Magneto were in Ancient Egypt, alongside En Sabah Nur, in 3000 B.C.
Now, we see their updated costumes, along with confirmation that Wolverine, Storm, and Morph were left similarly stranded in the future.
It seems the team's absence from the present will lead to the emergence of at least two more teams: X-Force and X-Factor. The former includes Cable, Archangel, Psylocke, Sunspot, and Jubilee. The latter, meanwhile, has Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, and Val Cooper.
Perhaps the biggest spoiler comes from our first look at X-Corp. Now wearing uniforms based on those featured in Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, this must be what becomes of the X-Men when they return home.
There's going to be plenty of time for this team to evolve. Brad Winderbaum, the Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, has previously confirmed that talks about Seasons 4 and 5 are already underway.
"There is definitely, more than possibly, more to come from X-Men '97. We're talking about Seasons 4 and 5 now," the executive said last October.
There have been rumours—started by fired showrunner Beau DeMayo—that Kevin Feige wasn't overly pleased with X-Men '97 potentially stealing the planned live-action X-Men reboot's thunder. We're not sure how much stock to put into those claims, but if they're at all accurate, it could impact the chances of Season 4 and 5 becoming a reality.
The X-Men: The Animated Series revival was a hit with fans and managed to more than live up to its predecessor. DeMayo developed much of Season 2, so Season 3 will be the big test when it comes to whether the show can keep that momentum going.
What If...?'s Matthew Chauncey is taking over as showrunner, which has been a cause for concern for many fans given the hit-and-miss nature of that Marvel Animation series.
X-Men '97 features the voices of Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith, Cal Dodd, J. P. Karliak, Lenore Zann, George Buza, A. J. LoCascio, Holly Chou, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Matthew Waterson, Ross Marquand, and Adrian Hough. Neve Campbell has denied that she'll lend her voice to Polaris.
X-Men '97 Season 2 premieres on Disney+ this summer. Check out this new promo art (via Nexus Point News) below.