Recently, X-Men ’97 actor Ross Marquand opened up about how long fans will have to wait before learning about the fate of the eponymous team, after the first season finale scattered them throughout time. Marquand voices several characters in the series, including Professor X/Charles Xavier and the supervillain Apocalypse. At the end of the series’ first season, the X-Men were scattered throughout time, with Magneto, Professor X, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast sent to 3,000 B.C., Jean Grey and Cyclops sent to the future, and Cable stranded in the show’s present day. The former group finds themselves rescuing a young Apocalypse.
While Marquand voices Apocalypse, his younger self, En Sabah Nur, is voiced by Adetokumboh M’Cormack.
While this is not the team’s first run-in with Apocalypse—it shares continuity with X-Men: The Animated Series, in which he was a recurring antagonist—this ending sets up a new conflict with the supervillain. During a panel at AwesomeCon, moderated by Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier, Marquand gave a major update on X-Men ’97’s sophomore season:
Screen Rant: “I know that you guys are in the process of working on the next X-Men ’97 seasons. I’m not going to ask you this for spoilers, but for hardcore X-Men comic fans, what runs should they be reading?”
Ross Marquand: “I’m not allowed to say, but just focus on Apocalypse.”
Screen Rant: “Age of Apocalypse?”
Ross Marquand: “I don’t know, maybe. You said that! I didn’t say that. But I can’t wait; it’s gonna be amazing. We’re just waiting now for the animators to do their thing. We wrapped production on that a while back, but it’s incredible. It’s so well done. I just can’t wait for everyone to see it. It’ll probably be next year, full honesty. That’s what I’m hearing from the higher ups, but we’ll see.”
Marquand isn’t the only X-Men ’97 star who’s teased the upcoming second season. Lenore Zahn, who voices Rogue, previously revealed that she finished recording season two and was already about to begin work on season three. Meanwhile, Isaac Robinson-Smith hinted that his character, Bishop, might just get more focus in season two. Crucially, Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum revealed: “Season 2 of X-Men ‘97 is going to be in ‘26,” echoing Marquand’s statement that the season would be next year.
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As for Apocalypse, it remains to be seen how the series will utilize the iconic villain. Marquand did dodge the question of which Apocalypse comics he would recommend to audiences. More importantly, he ignored being asked point-blank whether “Age of Apocalypse” would be a good starting point, which may indicate that the iconic 1995 crossover event may serve as inspiration for X-Men ’97 season two.
The X-Men ’97 finale teased both the En Sabah Nur of the past and the Apocalypse of the future, meaning both versions of the character will factor into the story. This could mean several things. Multiple factions of mutants could fight him throughout time, or perhaps, En Sabah Nur will be less antagonistic to the group stranded in the past, serving as an ally, even temporarily. Regardless, the tease of Marquand’s Apocalypse is enough to keep audiences eager for X-Men ’97’s return in 2026.
X-Men ’97
8/10
- Release Date
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March 20, 2024
- Directors
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Jake Castorena
