Some significant changes are coming for X-Men '97 Season 2, including some regarding the series' main villain. Marvel Animation's acclaimed animated mutant adventure will return to streaming later this year, ushering fans back into the world of Charles Xavier's superhero team. After the series saw the X-Men come to blows with the terrifying Bastion in Season 1, Season 2 will discard the human-cyborg in favor of a more imminent threat.
Marvel Animation confirmed that Bastion will not be the primary villain in X-Men '97 Season 2, with the series instead turning its focus to the ruthless Apocalypse. The ancient mutant character was only teased in Season 1, with his story being further explored in the upcoming second batch of episodes.
Apocalypse is one of the most iconic X-Men villains from across the Marvel Comics canon, being the first mutant in history. The character popped up to end the show's first season, with him (along with his four horsemen) making their presence known in the past timeline.
It is then revealed that the ruthless Marvel villain is active in the past, present, and future, with his Ancient Egyptian self seemingly unaware of his full super-villain potential.
This is a far cry from the villainous pictures in Season 1, in which classic comic character Bastion squared off against Marvel's marvelous mutant squad. In the show's first run, Bastion burst onto the scene as a human-created mutant-killing super soldier souped up by special tech to ensure he was the best at his job.
In the series, Bastion headed up the military outfit known as Operation: Zero Tolerance (OZT), a group bent on eliminating all mutants.
However, he was eventually defeated by the X-Men to close the series, making his potential Season 2 return highly unlikely (read more about the other villains coming to X-Men '97 Season 2 here).
Apocalypse will differ from Bastion in that the ancient mutant villain will seemingly be more of a looming threat throughout the season rather than just showing up for the series' final confrontation.
One of the biggest criticisms fans had of Bastion's role in Season 1 was that he only made his presence felt later in the season, leaving some feeling he came out of nowhere.
X-Men '97 Season 2 will arrive sometime in 2026, but no specific release date has been announced yet. The hit X-Men: The Animated Series sequel series will once again focus on the classic iterations of the iconic X-Men characters as seen in the beloved 1990s Saturday morning cartoon, albeit this time, in a battle across time and space. After Season 1 left the mutant team separated at various points in the timeline, Season 2 will focus on these super-powered characters as they try to return to the 1990s, all while dealing with the emergence of the villainous Apocalypse.
What To Expect From X-Men '97's Season 2 Villains
While X-Men '97 was not by any means a small series, the scale of Season 2 will dwarf it in comparison. This is a time-sprawling show now, with characters stuck in the past, present, and future.
All of these specific time frames will pose their own threats to the X-Men, seemingly tied to the towering Apocalypse.
Yes, the characters in the past will deal with an ancient Apocalypse who appears not to know yet just how powerful he can be; those in the present will have to navigate the revival of a mummified Apocalypse from past seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series; and those stuck in the far future will have a different version of the character to grapple with, as he has semeingly succeeded in his mission of world domination.
These three planes of action will hopefully come together by the end of the season, with all three versions of the ancient mutant giving the X-Men some guff in his own unique way.
Outside of Apocalypse, though, other villainous characters are confirmed to appear in the new episodes. These include Omega Red, Sabertooth, and Lady Deathstrike. All these formidable foes look to be secondary to Apocalyse, but that does not mean they are to be discounted entirely.
