Marvel Just Rewrote Apocalypse’s Entire Origin by Sneaking an Infinity Stone Into ‘X-Men ’97’
‘X-Men ’97‘ Season 2 has been quietly building toward one of the biggest retcons in the show’s history, and episode four finally delivered it. The “Rise of Apocalypse” arc has been sending the time-lost X-Men through ancient Egypt, the far future, and everywhere in between, but nobody expected the show to reach back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s cosmic toy box to do it.
That is exactly what happened. The time-lost X-Men traveled back to ancient Egypt hoping to prevent the creation of Apocalypse, one of their most terrifying villains, only to find themselves dealing with Eson the Searcher himself, a Celestial who still possessed the Power Stone in this timeline. That single detail changes everything fans thought they understood about ‘X-Men ’97’ and Apocalypse’s place in the wider Marvel mythology.
Apocalypse’s Origin Gets a Celestial Rewrite
Eson used the Power Stone to transform the enslaved Egyptian man En Sabah Nur into Apocalypse, giving him a mission to serve as the end of all things, explaining that all creation must eventually collapse in order to grow again. It is a haunting piece of dialogue, and it recontextualizes Apocalypse not as a villain who simply willed himself into power, but as a tool built for a cosmic purpose he never chose.
The comics version of this story leans on Celestial technology as well, with Apocalypse’s body sustained by bionic armor he took from the alien Celestials, requiring rest to rejuvenate over long stretches of time. ‘X-Men ’97’ clearly respects that foundation while giving it a sharper, more mythic edge for the screen.
Longtime readers already had reason to expect something like this, since the comics have suggested Apocalypse was chosen by the Celestials for exactly this reason, which is why he carries Celestial armor and technology in the first place. What the show adds is the Infinity Stone itself, a piece of MCU continuity that turns a mutant legend into something much bigger.
The Infinity Stone Connections Tie Into the Wider MCU
The comics traditionally use mysterious forces called Life and Death Seeds to explain how the Celestials mutate and resurrect people, but ‘X-Men ’97’ has swapped that concept out for the Power Stone, with hints that other Infinity Stones could be involved too. That swap is not a small creative choice, it is a direct bridge between the animated mutant universe and the cosmic machinery fans know from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’
Marvel has spent years teasing that Infinity Stones can unlock mutations within the main MCU timeline, which could finally explain why mutants are only now surfacing on the big screen. Fans will remember that in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ Hydra used the Mind Stone to grant Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver their powers.
According to the in-universe reference book The Wakanda Files, Hydra specifically chose to experiment in Sokovia because locals carried genetic markers believed capable of triggering superpowers, though most test subjects died before Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver proved to be the exceptions. The first Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary even suggested the Mind Stone may not have altered the twins at all, but simply unlocked something already dormant inside them.
That theory lines up neatly with what happens to Apocalypse in ‘X-Men ’97,’ and it raises a fascinating question about whether other power sources could trigger mutation the same way, which connects directly to Ms. Marvel’s exposure to cosmic energy as the MCU’s first officially confirmed mutant. Suddenly a decades old animated villain is doing heavy lifting for live action mutant lore.
Apocalypse’s Power Level Reaches New Heights
The stakes of this retcon became brutally clear in the same stretch of episodes. In the climactic battle between Magneto and a newly powered up Apocalypse wielding what appears to be the Power Stone from the Celestial buried within the pyramid, the villain proved exactly how dangerous he has become by killing Magneto while Professor X watched helplessly.
It is a stunning reversal of the comics, where Magneto is the one who famously tears Apocalypse apart during the Age of Apocalypse event, making this animated version of the fight land as a genuine shock for longtime readers. ‘X-Men ’97’ even did something the comics never managed, having Apocalypse kill Magneto with surprisingly little resistance.
There is still a chance Magneto returns, since ‘X-Men ’97’ has already established time travel as a major storytelling device, and it seems unlikely that Forge and Bishop would leave such a major loose end unresolved. Given how the show has handled other major deaths, nothing about Magneto’s fate feels permanent just yet.
The Kang Connection Adds Another Wrinkle
The Infinity Stone twist is not the only piece of MCU continuity threaded through Apocalypse’s rewritten backstory. The Pharaoh who oversees En Sabah Nur’s enslavement and eventual uprising is revealed to be Rama-Tut, an incarnation of Kang the Conqueror and one of the character’s youngest known variants.
Rama-Tut is desperate to stop En Sabah Nur because he fears the enslaved man will interfere with his search for a hidden temple built by immortal star gods, a structure capable of granting godlike power to whoever controls it. Professor X catches a glimpse of that temple while peering into the mind of a character named Logos, and an ominous voice tells Xavier that whoever finds it is “where the end begins.”
That line could apply to Kang, to Apocalypse, or to something even bigger waiting in the wings. Either way, ‘X-Men ’97’ has proven it is willing to rewrite decades of established mutant history in service of a much larger cosmic puzzle.
With Magneto dead, Apocalypse wielding Celestial power on a scale even the comics never gave him, and Kang lurking in the background of it all, how far do you think ‘X-Men ’97’ is willing to go to rewrite Apocalypse’s legacy before this season ends?
