A new variant cover for the upcoming X-Men '97 Season 2 prequel comic puts a fresh team of mutant superheroes front and center. The five-issue limited series, titled X-Men '97: Season Two, comes from writer Steve Foxe and artist Salva Espin, the same duo behind the prelude tie-in for the show's first season. It picks up after the Season 1 finale, with most of the X-Men scattered across time and only a handful left to hold the line in the present day.
Marvel's Marvel Animation variant cover for X-Men '97: Season Two #1 reveals three new superheroes joining the animated universe in Season 2: Havok, Wolfsbane, and Multiple Man. All three are members of X-Factor, the government-backed mutant team teased in X-Men '97 Season 1. The cover places them alongside fellow X-Factor mutants Strong Guy and Polaris, in the show's signature animated style, teasing the team's full arrival as a major piece of the new season.
In the image, Strong Man rocks his classic yellow and purple gear, with Havok beside him in the X-Factor uniform he wore in the original X-Men: The Animated Series. Polaris floats just above them, while Wolfsbane crouches in her hybrid wolf form. Three identical figures of Multiple Man also fill out the rest of the image.
Who Are X-Men ‘97 Season 2’s New Heroes?
Havok
Alex Summers, better known as Havok, is the younger brother of Cyclops and a longtime X-Factor mainstay in Marvel Comics. His mutant power lets him absorb cosmic radiation and release it as plasma blasts, a destructive ability that runs hot where his brother's optic beams run cool. In the comics, Havok led X-Factor for years and built a reputation as a capable field commander in his own right.
Havok turned up briefly in X-Men: The Animated Series back in 1995, in the Season 3 episode "Cold Comfort," where he was already part of Forge's government-run X-Factor and dating Polaris.
He didn't appear at all in X-Men '97 Season 1 outside of one Polaroid photo on Forge's wall. Season 2 looks set to give him an actual role for the first time, and the variant cover suggests he'll still be wearing the blue and yellow X-Factor look fans remember.
Wolfsbane
Rahne Sinclair, codename Wolfsbane, is a Scottish mutant who can change into a wolf or a hybrid wolf-human form with heightened senses, speed, and strength. She started her comic run as a member of the New Mutants before moving over to X-Factor, and she's spent decades bouncing between mutant teams.
Wolfsbane appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, but her only appearance in X-Men '97 Season 1 was a cameo on Forge’s Polaroid photo. The variant cover shows her crouched on all fours in mid-transformation, fangs bared, in X-Factor colors.
Multiple Man
Jamie Madrox, also known as Multiple Man, has the unusual ability to create a fully sentient duplicate of himself every time he takes a hit. The dupes can think and act on their own, which makes him a one-man squad in any fight. In the comics, he eventually founded X-Factor Investigations, a mutant detective agency, and became one of the most recognizable faces of the brand.
Multiple Man briefly appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, also in "Cold Comfort," but he's been absent from X-Men '97 so far, apart from that same Forge photo in Season 1. The variant cover shows three Madrox figures standing shoulder to shoulder in matching green trench coats, a visual that depicts his powers. Also, Multiple Man was spotted in the Season 2 trailer that debuted at New York Comic Con.
Other X-Factor Members Joining X-Men X-Men ‘97 Season 2
Strong Guy, real name Guido Carosella, is the towering figure on the left side of the cover. His mutant power lets him absorb the kinetic energy from any attack and channel it back as raw strength, which has the side effect of leaving his body permanently swollen and hunched. He had a quick on-screen moment in X-Men '97 Season 1, Episode 7, "Bright Eyes," where he was glimpsed among the mutants helping to clean up Genosha after a Sentinel attack.
Polaris, also known as Lorna Dane, is the character with green hair and a floating pose right at the center of the cover. She's the daughter of Magneto and controls magnetism, and also appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series. She showed up a couple of times in X-Men '97 Season 1, including an appearance inside Magneto's mindscape during the finale and a longer cameo in Bastion's dystopian future timeline.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
