Apocalypse Arrives in Explosive ‘X-Men ’97’ Season 2 Trailer

Marvel has finally released the first trailer for X-Men ’97 Season 2, and it confirms one thing fans have been waiting to see for months: Apocalypse is officially taking center stage. The new footage also reveals that the animated series will return to Disney+ on July 1, bringing the mutant team into one of its biggest and strangest stories yet.

The new season picks up after the chaotic ending of Season 1, where the X-Men were scattered across different points in time. Some members of the team are now trapped in ancient Egypt during the rise of Apocalypse, while others have been thrown thousands of years into the future.

The trailer focuses heavily on En Sabah Nur, the mutant who would later become Apocalypse. Executive producer Larry Houston explained that the series will explore the character’s origins in a much deeper way this time around. He told Entertainment Weekly, “Ancient Egypt Apocalypse gives us this massively powerful mutant backstory.” He also added, “No one is born evil, but we see how circumstances led him to become the villainous Apocalypse.”

The story seems much larger than a normal superhero battle. Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, Beast, and Nightcrawler are stuck in Egypt around 3,000 B.C., while Cyclops and Jean Grey end up in the distant future in the year 3960. The trailer teases giant battles, strange timelines, and several different versions of Apocalypse across history.

At the same time, Bishop and Forge are left behind in the main timeline and are trying to bring the team back together before Apocalypse attacks when the X-Men are at their weakest.

The footage also hints at major emotional fallout from Gambit’s death in Season 1. Fans already suspected Apocalypse could somehow be connected to Gambit’s future after the finale teased the villain standing over the site of Gambit’s death while holding one of his playing cards.

Houston confirmed that Gambit’s loss remains a huge part of the story moving forward. He said, “The death of Gambit looms greatly over season 2.” He also explained that Rogue is still deeply affected by what happened and that the writers understand how important the character is to longtime fans.

The producers avoided directly confirming comic storylines tied to Gambit and Apocalypse, but they clearly teased that fans are already guessing correctly. Producer Julia Lewald commented, “We probably don’t wanna get too close to answering that specifically, but appreciate that a lot of folks are picking up breadcrumbs.” Eric Lewald added, “If you were a betting man, I would say, follow the breadcrumbs.”

The trailer also introduces several new characters and teams. Psylocke, Colossus, Polaris, Archangel, and X-Force all appear briefly in the footage. Houston teased that Polaris will have a major role this season and said her story will affect both the X-Men and X-Force.

Marvel also seems very confident about the future of the series. Larry Houston revealed that the studio is already deep into work on future episodes and plans to keep new seasons coming faster. He explained, “It’s gonna be a year until the next one and a year until the next one after that.”

With Apocalypse finally arriving and multiple timelines colliding, Season 2 looks ready to push X-Men ’97 into even bigger territory than before.

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