TV Review: X-Men '97 Season 2 (2026)

X-Men '97 Season 2 (2026) created by Beau DeMayo based on the 1990s series based on the Marvel Comics

This series has the X-Men fighting the supervillain Apocalypse. He starts out in ancient Egypt as an insignificant slave and rises to become the first mutant. He lives on for thousands of years. The X-Men fight him in the far future, the past, and the present. The far future is dominated by Cable, the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey, who is fated to kill Apocalypse. Cable knows about his fate and has become obsessed by it. His aggression leads him to form his own mutant team, X-Force, who travel through time to fight Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Professor X and Magneto try to stop En Sabah Nur from becoming Apocalypse in 3000 BC. When all the X-Men return to modern day (1997, that is), they have to deal with X-Factor, a group of mutants hired by the American government to keep mutants in line. Naturally, the three X-groups come into conflict with each other as they are trying to deal with Apocalypse in their own ways.

The show gets a little convoluted as it goes along. The main story line gets scattered, especially when filler episodes show up, like the one where Wolverine gets his adamantium back while on a mission to the Weapon X facility. The stories are exciting even if they don't all gel together. The finale introduces a new problem, the election of an anti-mutant president of the United States. Also, Mystique takes over the identity of the head of X-Factor, which probably won't be good news in season 3. I enjoyed this season enough to be looking forward to next season.

Recommended, highly for X-Men fans.

As I write this (September 2026), this is only available streaming on Disney+.