X-Men '97 season 2 returns July 1 — what to remember

X-Men ‘97, which continued X-Men: The Animated Series when it launched on Disney Plus in 2024, returns for season 2 on July 1. The first season closed on a jarring cliffhanger that scattered the team and set up a sprawling time- and space-spanning story. Early in season 1, Professor Xavier is taken to space by the Shi'ar leader Liandra and, to everyone’s surprise, Magneto assumes control of Xavier’s school via Charles’s will.

Magneto is pardoned and pushes for the mutant nation of Genosha to be recognized by the United Nations. Cyclops and Jean appear to have a son, Nathan, but the pregnant Jean is a clone created by Mister Sinister; Sinister infects the child with a techno-organic virus and Bishop takes Nathan into the future seeking a cure.

A celebration for Genosha is cut short by a Sentinel attack that kills thousands, even as an adult Nathan (now Cable) travels back to warn the X-Men.

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