The official trailer for X-Men '97 Season 2 was incredible, but it had a glaring issue tied to the show's major storyline. X-Men '97 Season 1 delivered a shocking, on-screen massacre in Genosha that wiped out countless mutants in one devastating Sentinel attack. The horror was visceral and impactful. But the full scope of the loss extended to off-screen deaths that remained unconfirmed until the Season 2 trailer dropped. Those confirmations hit hard, and for some beloved characters, they came with a major disappointment.
At the 1:21 mark, the X-Men '97's Season 2 trailer confirmed that Magik (Illyana Rasputin) died in the Genosha attack. In a separate shot, a brief glimpse of Colossus, Magik's brother, cradling her lifeless body in the ruins, is visible in the devastation.
This was followed by her prominent portrait in a memorial among the fallen (alongside Gambit, Marrow, and the others). With Magik's image front and center, this ties directly into Colossus' arc. In Marvel Comics, Magik's death has driven Colossus into darker territory, like joining the Acolytes.
However, Magik's death is at the center of the issue surrounding X-Men '97 Season 2's trailer. Some claimed that Magik is only being used to set up Colossus' dark turn in Season 2 (potentially as a member of Apocalypse's Four Horseman), which is disappointing to many who would have wanted to see Magik get a full role in the show.
Magik's only appearance in X-Men '97 Season 1 was a brief Morph cameo in Episode 3, where he transforms into her (in a New Mutants-style training uniform) during an interrogation sequence involving Madelyne Pryor. While it was a fun Easter egg, it was not a real introduction or development for Illyana herself.
Killing Magik off-screen to fuel Colossus' story feels like using a fan-favorite character as a plot device rather than giving her the meaningful role she deserved. X-Men lore and the New Mutants movie established Magik as a powerhouse, a sorceress with a soulsword, and one of the most popular X-characters in recent years. Fans wanted Magik to shine in Season 2 and not become another casualty in someone else's grief arc.
The X-Men '97 Season 2 trailer also indirectly confirmed Iceman's death via a photo in the same shrine. As a founding member of the X-Men, Iceman's minimal role in the original animated series already left fans wanting more. Off-screen death in Genosha is a devastating blow for Magik and Iceman.
Iceman's Omega-level powers and growth in modern comics make him ripe for big stories. Instead, X-Men '97 reduced Iceman and Magik to emotional fuel to serve as setup for other characters' stories (in this case, Colossus and Polaris).
Watch the official X-Men '97 Season 2 trailer here:
X-Men '97 Season 2 arrives on Disney+ on July 1.
Why X-Men '97 Failed Magik - But There's Still a Chance It Can Be Fixed
X-Men '97 clearly excels at emotional stakes and honoring the source material while still updating it. The Genosha massacre in Season 1 (which killed off at least 8 mutants on-screen, including Gambit) served as a storyline designed for impact, and Magik's demise only felt convenient for supporting arcs.
Despite that, given the fan-favorite status of Magik, there is a sense that her death in X-Men '97 Season 1 didn't have a sense of finality. X-Men stories are famous for reversals. Magik has died and returned multiple times in the comics. Season 2's overarching time-travel storyline definitely opens a lot of doors.
In X-Men lore, Illyana's connection to Limbo could allow a demonic return, Darkchylde transformation, or portal-based resurrection. Speculation has swirled about Magik joining her brother, Colossus, as one of Apocalypse's Horsemen in 1997. With Gambit rumored to return as a villain and the show already planting resurrection seeds, this twist makes a lot of sense.
All in all, failing to give Magik a proper introduction before her death was clearly a stumble, but X-Men '97 has the tools (and comic precedent) to make things right.
