‘X-Men ’97’ Season 2 Sneaks A Sly Avenger Cameo Into Its Very First Episode
Marvel fans hoping for a full-blown Avengers crossover in ‘X-Men ’97‘ Season 2 got something a little more playful instead. The shape-shifting Morph has once again become the sneaky vessel for a beloved hero cameo, and this time it is the God of Thunder himself getting the treatment.
The reveal comes courtesy of a new clip that Marvel Studios shared ahead of the season’s July 1 premiere on Disney Plus, and it has fans buzzing about just how connected this animated corner of the Marvel Universe might eventually become.
Morph Channels Thor In The Season Premiere
In the premiere episode, titled ‘Days of Past Future,’ the mutant team finds itself scattered across different points in history while battling Apocalypse’s Final Horsemen. During a chaotic fight sequence, Storm, Wolverine, and Morph arrive as reinforcements, and Morph unexpectedly transforms into Thor, hammer swings and all, to help turn the tide against the Horsemen.
According to a clip shared by Rotten Tomatoes and reported by ComicBook.com, the sequence shows Morph hitting one villain with his hammer before tossing them across the room, appearing as Thor even though it is really Morph having transformed into the hero. It is a fun blink and you will miss it gag that plays directly into Morph’s established role in the series.
An episode breakdown from withashleyandco.com confirms the moment happens during the big battle to save Cyclops, Jean Grey, and their son Nathan Summers from Apocalypse’s Horsemen, noting simply that Thor is there too, as the group fights to escape before being sent into the Citadel.
Morph has become something of a running gag machine for Marvel cameos across both seasons. Per ComicBook.com, across the first season Morph mostly transformed into other X-Men characters like Professor X, Psylocke, and Quicksilver, along with villains like Blob and Sabretooth, and he had already impersonated the Hulk in a prior episode before this new Thor bit.
Why This Avengers Cameo Matters For The Bigger Picture
The Thor gag lands with extra weight because ‘X-Men ’97’ has a track record of teasing a wider Marvel Animated Multiverse without fully committing to it. Screen Rant notes that while this version of Thor is only a cameo through Morph’s powers, the real versions of Avengers like Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther all appeared during the show’s first season.
That Season 1 track record set expectations high. Screen Rant further points out that Captain America even shared an extended sequence with Rogue in episode 7 before returning alongside Iron Man in the season finale.
Those appearances turned casual viewers into theorists, wondering whether the mutants of ‘X-Men ’97’ might eventually cross paths with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for real.
The Yahoo Entertainment report on the new clip echoes that sentiment, noting that since Captain America appeared during Season 1, other Avengers factoring into Season 2 in some capacity is certainly plausible. For now though, Thor’s presence remains a Morph illusion rather than confirmation of the actual Asgardian showing up in the flesh.
Other Avenger Names Floating Around Season 2
Beyond the Thor gag, eagle eyed fans have spotted other threads that could tie into the wider Avengers corner of this animated universe. Collider reported that a mysterious disk in the new season features the name Bucky Barnes, better known to most Marvel fans as the Winter Soldier, which could lay the groundwork for a potential Avengers animated series down the line given his deep connection to Captain America.
That same report lays out just how deep the Season 1 cameo well ran, pointing out that Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Spider-Man all showed up in that first batch of episodes, reinforcing that these other Marvel animated heroes exist and operate in the same world as the X-Men.
Whether any of these characters get more than a blink and you will miss it treatment in the nine episode second season remains to be seen. What is clear is that Marvel Studios Animation is not shy about reminding audiences that ‘X-Men ’97’ shares its sandbox with a much bigger roster of heroes, even if most of them only pop up in disguise.
Now that Morph has added Thor to his growing list of transformations, do you think ‘X-Men ’97’ should bring in a real Avenger for a face to face team-up before the season wraps?
