Disney+ Reveals Magneto's Major Role In Marvel Studios' X-Men 97

By Matt Roembke Updated: July 22, 2022

Mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of, if not the biggest, discussion topics amongst Marvel fans today. After the Ms. Marvel finale delivered one of the most shocking plot twists in MCU history, revealing Kamala Khan as the universe's first mutant. This was the first domino of many that will fall in place to decide the future of the biggest cinematic franchise in history.

To supplement just how big X-Men in the MCU will be, Marvel Studios has decided to relaunch the series that brought the comic book megastar into the mainstream media for good. The X-Men Animated Series ran from October 1992 to September 1997. This series capitalized on the biggest comic book in the world and turned the X-Men into household names for everyone, not just comic readers.

Coming off of the legendary Chris Claremont run of The Uncanny X-Men, this series also introduced what many would know as the main X-Men roster moving forward. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Rogue, and Jubilee. All led by the most powerful mutant of them all, Professor Charles Xavier. And while Professor X is commonly considered the de facto leader of ALL X-Men teams, X-Men 97 plans to take a different approach in the pseudo-season 6 of the animated show.

Magneto Takes the Lead

The X-Men Animated series is being brought back to Disney+ for X-Men 97. A first look at legendary mutant antagonist Magento was revealed along with a report that he will be the leader of the X-Men in the series.

This new suit suggests that since the final episode of the series in 1997, Magneto has evolved into a primary role for the mutant team he once battled against. However, his iconic flowing white hair remains. X-Men 97 keeps many of the same tonal vibes of the animation style from the original series while upgrading the quality.

This report suggests they will also be taking big swings with the story.

Not Your Father's Magneto

Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, The Joker, Voldemort, The Night King, Thanos... Magneto. Villains that become as popular, if not more popular, than the heroes they battle. Since day one of the X-Men's glorious existence, Magneto has been there as their infamous foe. It seems that when X-Men 97 releases in 2023, he will join them as their leader.

This kind of thing has always made Magneto such a magnetic character. In comics, animation, and live-action, there is always a conflict of interest wherever Magneto is portrayed. So many iconic X-Men stories come with Magneto and Charles Xavier either working together, being forced to join forces, or fighting against one another despite a common goal. The gray area of the master of magnetism is juicy content.

With Magneto leading the charge in X-Men 97, showrunners will have plenty of opportunities to weave moral and ethical dilemmas with the 90s soap opera-style stories of XAS past.

This move is impactful because Marvel Studios is putting the most famous X-Men villain in a lead role in their first (reported) X-Men property. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has increased the population of Marvel Fans tenfold because of its success since 2008. There is a large portion of MCU fans who have never read a comic book. And many of that portion has never seen any of the classic Marvel animated series. Of that group, there is a chance that some of them have never seen a non-Marvel Studios comic book movie.

For that sector of the MCU faithful, Ms. Marvel being confirmed as a mutant might be the first time the mutant concept was introduced. To sum up, Marvel Studios is introducing the X-Men/Mutant IP to a portion of their audience.

This means that they can retell the stories, reintroduce the characters, and mold the narrative of this franchise to best tailor the larger plan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So far, if you are an MCU-only Marvel fan (of which there are many), here is what you know about mutants.