Marvel Studios tucked Easter eggs for Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique and Avengers: Doomsday into X-Men '97 Season 2's finale. Shortly after Lawrence's career took off with her Oscar-nominated performance in the indie drama Winter's Bone, she joined the Marvel universe as Mystique in X-Men: First Class. She went on to star in Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix, around the same time that the four Hunger Games movies elevated her stardom to new heights.
After the chaos with Apocalypse and Gambit was complete, X-Men '97 Season 2's post-credits scene featured Mystique in Val Cooper's office, posing as the X-Men's United Nations liaison and reading her own dossier. When the real Cooper entered the room and interrupted, Mystique promptly gunned her down and returned to her ordinary blue-skinned form, marking her first appearance in the Disney+ revival.
Upon closer inspection of Mystique's file and her "known associates," audiences can see the names of three actresses who have played the shapeshifting mutant most prominently over the years, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence.
Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique was killed off in 2019's X-Men: Dark Phoenix when she was accidentally impaled by Sophie Turner's out-of-control Jean Grey. Seven years later, Marvel Studios acknowledged her existence for the first time in X-Men '97 Season 2, paying tribute to the shape-shifter's on-screen history.
Lawrence wasn't the only Mystique Variant acknowledged in X-Men '97, as the dossier also threw a reference to Rebecca Romijn, the first live-action Raven Darkhölme from Fox's early X-Men movies. The now-53-year-old actress will reprise her role later this year in Avengers: Doomsday, which is expected to challenge audiences' perception of Mystique in a major way.
The third and final Mystique actress namedropped is Randall Carpenter, the voice actress from X-Men: The Animated Series, who made her long-awaited return holding this very dossier in X-Men '97 Season 2's post-credits scene.
Despite sitting out X-Men '97's first two seasons, Marvel Animation is setting Mystique up for a major role in next year's Season 3, as she hinted that she is "determined to attack the United States."
This type of Easter egg isn't a first for X-Men '97, as Magneto got his own dossier in Season 1. Eagled-eyed fans will spot David Hemblen, Ian M., and Michael F. among his aliases, referencing three of his actors from across the decades.
These aliases pay tribute to Fox's younger Magneto, Michael Fassbender, the elder Sir Ian McKellen (who has been called the "MVP" of Doomsday), and David Hemblen, the actor behind the metal-manipulator in X-Men: The Animated Series, who passed away in 2020 and was recast with Matthew Waterson for X-Men '97.
What's Next for Mystique at Marvel Studios?
As discussed earlier, fans can look forward to Mystique's first live-action appearance in seven years with this December's Avengers: Doomsday. This time around, Rebecca Romijn is coming back alongside her older X-Men colleagues to go head-to-head with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
More specifically, Doomsday's first trailer featured Mystique fighting Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and even shape-shifting into her Black Widow opponent. As the Avengers and X-Men's Earths head for an Incursion, the stakes will be high for Mystique and her allies as they battle to save their world from extinction.
As the end of the Multiverse looms, Avengers 5 is likely to be the final send-off for the Fox X-Men, and with it, Romijn's take on Mystique, 26 years after her debut. Despite the limitless crossover potential of Doomsday and Secret Wars, a comeback for the ever-busy Lawrence appears to be off the table.
Still, audiences will almost certainly see Mystique again next year, as the post-credits scene set her up as a major villain for X-Men '97 Season 2. She may be leading an updated version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants after Magneto's death, now "determined to attack the United States" after the anti-mutant politician Graydon Creed has taken office as the next president.
Marvel Studios may have big plans for Mystique in Avengers: Doomsday and X-Men '97, but what about in the MCU's rebooted mutants? While it's still unclear whether the shape-shifter is part of the Phase 7 movie plans, rising star Inde Naverrette is already vying for the Mystique role, possibly teeing up the Obsession star to follow in Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca Romijn's footsteps.
