Review: X-Men 97 “Days of Past Future; A Force To Be Reckoned With; Rise of Apocalypse Part 1”
“In our time, we’re called The X-Men!”
Overview
“Days of Past Future”
Forge and Bishop launch an ambitious plan to rescue the X-Men, who have been scattered through time.
“A Force To Be Reckoned With”
After D-Day, a secret paramilitary force led by Cable emerges to try to fill the void left by the X-Men.
“Rise of Apocalypse Part 1.”
An alliance between the X-Men and En Sabah Nur begins to crumble when Rama-Tut seeks supreme power.
Our Take
After a highly acclaimed first season, X-Men ’97 returns with an ambitious structure that splits the X-Men across multiple timelines, all converging on one looming threat: Apocalypse, an immortal mutant from Ancient Egypt with a “Survival of the fittest” philosophy. The premiere episodes immediately escalate the scale, scattering the team from a distant future to ancient Egypt and the 1990s, where each faction is forced into distinct but interconnected struggles. Despite the narrative complexity, everything is clearly aligned toward the same escalating conflict, with Apocalypse reintroduced as a more intimidating, layered, and almost mythic force than before.
Across these intertwined storylines, the series balances a large ensemble and multiple ongoing conflicts. In the future, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and others navigate a harsh reality shaped by Apocalypse’s influence, while also dealing with deeply personal stakes involving their family. In the present, Cable leads a more tactical X-Force-style operation alongside mutants like Psylocke, Archangel, Jubilee, and Sunspot, clashing with both evolved threats and government-backed teams such as X-Factor. Meanwhile, in ancient Egypt, a crucial storyline focuses on Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, Beast, and Nightcrawler, whose encounters with a younger En Sabah Nur and the political-religious dynamics of that era add philosophical weight and tension to Apocalypse’s origin, which is somehow tied to “Rama-Tut,” a Fantastic Four villain whose purpose in the story somewhat makes sense given his time-travel shenanigans, along who Rama eventually becomes much later on… Each timeline expands the scope of the conflict while reinforcing the same central idea: the X-Men are being pulled apart in time while trying to prevent a singular catastrophic future.
Overall, X-Men ’97 Season 2 opens with a confident, high-energy burst of storytelling that juggles multiple eras, large character rosters, and escalating stakes without losing sight of its core emotional and thematic threads. The animation, action set pieces, and character moments continue to draw strong praise, even if the density of the plotting can feel overwhelming at times. The intros in each episode change depending on which character the episode wants to focus on plot-wise, and the inclusion of the full Ancient Egypt storyline with Xavier and Magneto alongside the other timelines helps complete the season’s structure and reinforces just how expansive the narrative ambition is. It’s a bold, chaotic, and exciting return that sets the stage for an even larger conflict to come.
