X-Men ’97 Season 3 Needs to Learn 4 Major Lessons, But it Might Be Too Late

So this is how X-Men ’97 Season 2 ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. It’s an exciting time to be an X-Men fan; Sadie Sink is now officially the MCU’s Jean Grey, we’re all eagerly awaiting more X-Men casting announcements, and X-Men ’97 Season 2’s ending sets up a full-scale war between the United States and mutants. And yet, despite all this excitement, reactions to that Season 2 finale are mixed to say the least. This season has struggled, largely because of changes in creative direction behind the scenes.

Looking forward, I confess I have serious concerns about X-Men ’97 Season 3. The problem lies in the fact it’s already been made; while it’s great to see Marvel push ahead (and therefore reduce the wait between seasons), it means the studio has less chance to learn from mistakes and missteps. X-Men ’97 has had some serious flaws this time round, and they need to be addressed for Season 3. Here are all the issues Marvel need to fix if this show is to get the bright future it deserves.

4. A Nine-Episode TV Show Can’t Afford Side Stories

Back in the ’90s, the original X-Men animated series kicked off with two 13-episode seasons (before sky-rocketing to an impressive 19 episodes for Season 3, and 21 for Season 4). In contrast, X-Men ’97 Season 2 had only nine episodes. Despite that, the season felt almost absurdly disjointed; more like an anthology series than anything else, lacking real narrative arc. Important subplots were relegated to the background, all the more startling now we know some of them were setup for Season 3. Staple X-Men lacked development, in favor of (the admittedly excellent) Polaris.

Episode 5 is perhaps the best example. Riffing on the darker, brutal Wolverine comics of the ’90s, this had so much promise – especially when teasers had hinted at everything from the Winter Soldier to X-23. But the story never fulfilled its potential, and the different tone and style meant this felt like a standalone rather than part of a cohesive narrative. We already knew the outcome (trailers had confirmed Wolverine was getting his adamantium back), but the strangest thing was that this whole episode became meaningless to the main arc. In the end, Wolverine’s only contribution to the finale was… fighting Psylocke. Which didn’t need adamantium.

3. Every X-Man’s Story Needs to Matter… & Needs to Be Done Well

Which leads me nicely to the next problem; every X-Man’s story needs to matter. Episode 5 is a fantastic character study on Wolverine, shining a light on the more unsavory and manipulative aspects of his character. This is Wolverine as Fox never dared to show him, a frankly unlikable person who deeply wounds his friends and allies. And yet, as great as that episode may be, it’s irrelevant to the story. It felt like something of a tick-box exercise; Wolverine has lost his adamantium, he needs to be reset to the status quo, and therefore here is the obligatory Wolverine episode.

Some X-Men do get their chance to shine, of course. This feels like Professor X’s season most of all, because the episodes focused on Charles Xavier are among Season 2’s best. Magneto’s death shakes Professor X to his core, while his grief on Genosha is absolutely unforgettable. And yet, again, so much of that feels wasted in the finale; there’s a better story out there where Xavier is torn over Gambit, simply because he hates Apocalypse so much. The comics themselves have long explored Xavier’s dark side, and yet X-Men ’97 fails to do so. Its version of Xavier resolves his issues too neatly, too cleanly.

2. Don’t Introduce a Character Unless You’re Going to Do Something With Them

X-Men ’97 had more Easter eggs than pretty much any other TV show I’ve seen, and a lot of them were handled pretty well. Quite a few appeared in a handful of scenes, teenage mutants captured by X-Factor, freed by X-Force, and subsequently left at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. As much as I love the versions of Generation X teased in these scenes, I get it; Quentin Quire, Chamber, and Nature Girl aren’t the focus here. They exist in the background to help make the world feel “lived-in,” and that’s a perfectly appropriate approach when it comes to a school environment.

There are, however, limits to this – and X-Men ’97 Season 2 passed them. The External named Candra is the ultimate example, introduced as an Egyptian sorceress in ancient Egypt. Episode 8 revealed Apocalypse had come to love Candra, giving her a gift of immortality through Celestial technology, only for her to betray him. It was a fascinating idea, given Apocalypse’s portrayal as the ultimate, irredeemable villain. And yet, it was seen only briefly in a flashback. Candra essentially existed purely to give Gambit something to do after he’d turned into Death. In an over-packed season, she was basically an irrelevance.

1. Every X-Man Has a Fanbase

X-Men ’97 Season 2 had a Jubilee problem. That’s a surprising thing to write, given she had an absolutely tremendous episode as part of X-Force; but the X-Force aspect is the problem. Jubilee flourished this season, but largely because she took a completely different X-Man’s role. Granted, both Jubilee and Boom Boom riff on the same tropes, but the point remains; characters are not interchangeable. Jubilee was far from the only mutant badly treated this season, with X-Men ’97 doubling down on Emma Frost’s villainy. This in spite of her current popularity thanks to Marvel Rivals.

Here’s the thing the showrunners need to remember: Every X-Man has a fanbase. Well, OK, maybe not every X-Man; I didn’t see much reaction to the reveal Maggott had died offscreen courtesy of the Brood. But whenever you use an X-Man, you have to understand this character means something to a portion of the fanbase. That means you have a responsibility to handle them with care, even if they’re not your personal favorite. It doesn’t mean you indulge in fan-service, but just that you handle every character with love.

All in all, I’m being very critical of X-Men ’97 Season 2. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, not exactly; I really enjoyed the story. But it was far from perfect, largely because the pieces just didn’t go together (and, frankly, there were too many pieces). Marvel dream of five seasons or more, but this was only happen if the show learns from its mistakes. I admit to being concerned, because it may already be too late for Season 3, but we can still hope things pick up again.