The season 1 finale of Marvel Studios' acclaimed animated series, X-Men '97, hit Disney+ this past Wednesday, and it's fair to say the events of "Tolerance is Extinction - Part 3" left us with a lot to discuss.
If you haven't watched yet, beware of major spoilers from this point on.
In the closing moments of the drama-filled finale, the team managed to defeat Bastion and prevent Asteroid M from destroying the planet, but the heroes somehow ended up being transported through time in the process.
Xavier (Ross Marquand), Magneto (Matthew Waterson), Rogue (Lenore Zann), Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough), and Beast (George Buza) find themselves in Egypt in the year 3,000 B.C., where they encounter a younger En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M'Cormack). Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) and Cyclops (Ray Chase) land way into the future in the year 3960 A.D. where they meet a younger version of their son, Nathan Summer, aka Cable, leaving Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith), Wolverine (Cal Dodd), and Morph (JP Karliak) unaccounted for.
However, it's the post-credit scene that really got fans talking.
In Genosha (or what's left of it) in the present-day timeline, we see Apocalypse standing by Gambit's grave, holding one of his signature playing cards. "So much pain, my children," says the villain. "So much...death."
In the comics, Gambit winds up becoming one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. This seems like a pretty blatant hint that Remy Lebeau is somehow going to return as Death in season 2, but the show's creative team aren't about to confirm anything just yet.
"Oh, did something happen with Gambit in the comics? Oh, that's cool," head director Jake Castorena tells EW. "Nothing is happening by accident. Everything is meticulously planned."
"What's fun is the animated series has always done its own adaptations, so you don't know what you're going to get," adds director Chase Conley. "But our writers definitely put it there to make people think. Every single word in the series is very intentional and combed over four times."
"It was always part of Beau's pitch to bring Apocalypse in at a certain point," says Marvel's head of television Brad Winderbaum of the powerful baddie, "but season 1 was always going to be Magneto and Sinister with Bastion being the surprise villain in the second half. Apocalypse was never really on the table for season 1, but he was always top of mind as we thought about the future."
The show has already been picked up for a second season, but a third is also highly likely - although if the series does continue, it will be with a new heard writer after Beau DeMayo was fired just before the premiere.
"It feels like a lot of pressure on all of us at the studio as we're cutting season 2, as we're figuring out our plans in the future," says Winderbaum of the show's success. "It is exciting and has taught us a lot of great lessons for the franchise. It definitely has kickstarted season 3 in a massive way."
Winderbaum went on to confirm that the team "will have a new head writer for season 3," but notes, "We are honoring Beau's ideas for the second season."
"So much of the visual storytelling of this show comes from him and our amazing directing team. So it does feel like there's a consistent voice. The mantra is the same, the goals are the same, and the source material is the same. As long as that's our guiding principle, that we're honoring the comics and the original show, that's the core to the creative pursuit."
What did you make of the X-Men '97 season finale? Drop us a comment down below.