X-Men ’97: Marvel Confirms Plans for Future Seasons, And It Answers One Major Fan Complaint
The first season of X-Men ’97 won fans over effortlessly, tapping into collective nostalgia while still feeling like its own thing and packing a heck of an emotional punch. The show, kicking off a year after X-Men: The Animated Series, continues the titular mutants’ struggle to survive in a world that’s increasingly against them. Created by Beau DeMayo, who served as head writer on the first two seasons before being fired in March 2024, X-Men ’97 was an instant hit with critics, scoring a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Two years passed before fans could stream new episodes. Now, with the second season finale set to grace Disney+ on August 12, fans are both eager for more content and hopeful that the wait for Season 3 won’t be quite as long as it was for Season 2. They’re in luck, too, because one of the Marvel bigwigs just revealed when X-Men ’97 is coming back.
Speaking with Collider, Marvel Studios Head of TV and Streaming Brad Winderbaum gave fans a definitive answer regarding when to expect future seasons of X-Men ’97. “Season 3 is going to come out next year and Season 4 the year after that,” he said, indirectly addressing the frustrating wait for Season 2. Fans clamored for new episodes immediately after Season 1 ended, but with DeMayo’s abrupt firing came turmoil. Marvel’s What If…? director Matthew Chauncey took over soon after, which seemed to stabilize things.
X-Men ’97 Seasons 3 and 4 Are Coming Sooner Than You Thought
Fans miffed about the extended wait time for Season 2 can rest easy, because Winderbaum’s comments officially squash any notion of a similar gap between Seasons 2 and 3, and even 3 and 4. He expanded on his comments, saying, “It’s a whole different business now, and streaming has its own limitations. Episode count is always a factor, and sometimes you have to decide, ‘Do you want a season to come out sooner or do you want more episodes?’ I tend to vote to get them out as soon as possible, even if you have to save some stories for subsequent seasons.”
X-Men ’97 Season 2 picks up as our heroes, scattered throughout time, fight back against the ancient mutant Apocalypse, who happens to be one of the eponymous team’s most fearsome villains. With only 2 episodes left in the season, many are already looking ahead to Season 3, which remains mostly shrouded in mystery but is confirmed to contain some fun and obscure cameos. X-Men ’97 is a dream come true for so many reasons. The first season was so memorable and devastating that it became impossible to ignore, a beacon for superhero fans looking for god-tier storytelling and a counterweight for the endless stream of lifeless revival and reboots. It’s alreadystarted laying some thrilling groundwork, but that’s the thing: So far, the writers have excelled at keeping viewers guessing, and we expect that same unpredictability in future seasons.
It’s unclear exactly when next year X-Men ’97 Season 3 will premiere, but given the fact that Season 2 hit Disney+ a bit later in the year, it wouldn’t be surprising if Marvel released it later in 2027. The show can go anywhere it wants to in Seasons 3 and 4, and you can bet that whichever direction the creative team takes, it’ll be every bit as fun.
