“X-Men ’97” wrapped up its stellar first season in particularly bombastic fashion with the final episode of the three-part arc “Tolerance Is Extinction.” With Magneto, Rogue and Sunspot siding with Magneto and residing on Asteroid M, Bastion fled to his island to power back up his Prime Sentinels.
After being against the ropes at the start of the finale – Wolverine had his adamantium ripped from his body by Magneto at the end of Part 2 – both teams manage to pull through but the problems are just beginning. President Kelly orders the U.S. to initiate its Magneto Protocol and the ensuing attack knocks Asteroid M out of orbit, sending it hurtling towards Earth. Luckily, Professor X is able to convince Magneto who he really is and the Master of Magnetism is able to slow the asteroid before it hits, but right as that starts to happen the entire rock – and a number of the X-Men on it – disappears right out of the sky.
There’s a six-month time jump that shows Forge has been looking for the X-Men who were on Asteroid M but hasn’t had any luck. Bishop – who’s been M.I.A. for most of the season – sneaks up on Forge and tells him he needs to stop looking for where the lost mutants went and start looking for when they went.
That leads us to those final scenes of the “X-Men ’97” finale that set up a lot of hints for Season 2.
Past Timeline
Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Magneto, and Professor X wake up in Egypt in 3000 B.C. and immediately get into a small fight with a group of soldiers harassing someone. After they’re dealt with, the group wonders if the man might be able to help them and asks his name. He pulls down his hood and introduces himself as En Sabah Nur.
Lifelong X-Men fans might have already known where that reveal was going, but En Sabah Nur is the name of the infamous X-Men villain Apocalypse. He’s a borderline immortal mutant who rose from rebel to ruler more than once across a number of timelines. He seems friendly enough at the end of Season 1 but that’s likely to change.
Fans of the live action X-Men films might also recognize Apocalypse. He was played by Oscar Isaac in 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
Future Timeline
Scott and Jean Grey end up in the future – 3960 A.D. to be exact. The future looks like a dystopian ruin and they’re approached not by enemies but by an old robed woman flanked by a number of soldiers. She introduces herself as Mother Askani, the leader of Clan Askani. Someone offscreen says he senses no reason to be afraid before Scott and Jean’s son Nathan – currently about a teenager and much younger than the version they interacted with as Cable in the present – steps to the front of the group.
The scene is a much bigger family reunion than it first appears. Though she’s very old now, in the comics Mother Askani is actually Scott and Jean’s daughter Rachel Summers. The Summers family back together and stranded in the far future.
The Post-Credits Scene: Gambit’s Fate
If that wasn’t enough to tee up the hype for Season 2 then the post-credit scene will likely do it. The scene takes us back to the present – the ruins of Genosha to be exact. A hand reaches into the crater left after Gambit made his sacrifice to stop the attack back in Episode 5 and pulls out a torn up queen of hearts card.
“So much pain, my children,” the man says. “So much death.”
We don’t get a look at the man’s whole face but a quick shot of his mouth is enough to confirm it’s a slightly older version of En Sabah Nur than the one Rogue, Magneto, Professor X, Nightcrawler, and Beast met in the past. This version is decidedly more Apocalypse-forward.
His words also hint toward Gambit’s fate. Whenever Apocalypse shows up and starts stirring the pot he often recruits various mutants to be his Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It’s highly likely the scene means Apocalypse plans to resurrect Gambit as his Horsemen of Death and pit him against the X-Men in Season 2.
“X-Men ’97” has already been renewed for Season 2, but a release date has not yet been revealed.
