X-Men ’97 has reached the midpoint of its season, with the mutant nation of Genosha finally becoming an official member state of the United Nations after mounting public support. But the celebration does not last long…… Here is a breakdown of the Easter eggs and key details from Episodes 5 and 6:
1. The Flag of Genosha Magneto arrives in Genosha with Rogue, Gambit, and others to celebrate the nation’s official recognition as a UN member state. The Genoshan flag seen in the episode directly follows the design from the comics.
2. Magneto Was Right The people of Genosha warmly welcome the X-Men, holding signs that read “Magneto Was Right” and “Mutant Lives Matter.” The phrase “Magneto Was Right” also appears to foreshadow Magneto’s coming sacrifice. In the comics event A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Magneto also briefly dies in connection with a massacre on Genosha, and public support for him rises after his sacrifice.
3. Pixie Genosha is shown as a peaceful home for all kinds of mutants, including some characters who only debuted in the comics after the original animated series had ended. One example is Pixie, whose powers recall Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. She first appeared in the 2004 comic New X-Men: Academy X.
4. Nightcrawler Nightcrawler appears as a member of Genosha’s council. He is a mutant with teleportation, wall-crawling, and night vision abilities. In the original animated series, Nightcrawler is Mystique’s son. He was raised in a monastery in Switzerland, but was persecuted because people saw his appearance as demonic. He was eventually saved by the X-Men, and also became Rogue’s foster brother.
Nightcrawler’s role as a council member may echo the 2021 comic X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation, in which he founded the Legionaries on the mutant nation of Krakoa to defend against outside threats.
Nightcrawler is voiced once again by Adrian Hough, who played the character in the original animated series. Hough also returned to voice Nightcrawler in the video game X-Men: Mutant Academy, and appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as Jean Grey’s father.
5. Dazzler Mutant pop star Dazzler also performs on the Genoshan stage, with a look based on her original animated series design. In the original show, Dazzler was first seen as one of Mojo’s production staff. After the X-Men destroyed Mojo’s show, she became a singer at a bar in the real world.
Dazzler previously made a live-action appearance in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, played by Halston Sage.
There were also rumors that Dazzler would appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, with Taylor Swift reportedly linked to the role.
Related Reading: Deadpool 3’s rumored cameo lineup keeps growing: Taylor Swift, Taron Egerton as a Wolverine variant, X-23, and more could appear
Taylor Swift’s new album is out: Are the lyrics hiding a Deadpool & Wolverine cameo clue?
6. The Watcher During the evening celebration, the Watcher can be spotted in the night sky. Since the Watcher often appears before major events, this cameo foreshadows the devastating Sentinel attack that is about to unfold. It is also one of the most significant links so far between the series and the MCU multiverse.
7. The Sentinel Attack In New X-Men #115, the mastermind who sends an army of Sentinels to wipe out Genosha is Cassandra Nova, Professor X’s twin sister. She is also the villain played by Emma Corrin in Deadpool & Wolverine.
However, before the attack begins, Cable travels back in time to warn his mother Madelyne, saying, “He’s coming.” That line seems to suggest the hidden mastermind in the series may be male.
In a brief shot during the gala, a man who appears to be the comic-book villain Bastion can also be seen. In the comics, Bastion is the leader behind the anti-mutant initiative Operation: Zero Tolerance, or OZT. When OZT attempts to restart the Sentinel program, Bastion succeeds in developing the human-machine hybrid Prime Sentinels.
8. The Producer and Director Cameos Two of the fallen mutants are actually cameos modeled after director Jake Castorena, pictured on the left below, and showrunner Beau DeMayo, on the right. Ironically, DeMayo was fired by Marvel for undisclosed reasons before the series premiered.
9. Remember It Gambit’s final words before his sacrifice, “The name’s Gambit, mon ami. Remember it,” tie directly into the title of the episode. The line is also one of his signature phrases from the original animated series.
10. I Can’t Feel You As Rogue holds Gambit in her arms, she says, “I can’t feel you.” The heartbreaking line recalls WandaVision, where Wanda touches Vision’s body and says something very similar.
11. Lifedeath Episode 6 is the second part of “Lifedeath.” In addition to continuing the storyline between Storm and Forge, it reveals that Professor X, Charles Xavier, has spent the past year recovering under the care of his Shi’ar lover Lilandra. His previously paralyzed lower body has also healed. The two are now preparing to marry, but Xavier realizes that doing so would cost him his memories of Earth. If the person he once was ceases to exist, then it may be little different from death.
12. Nightcrawler Joins the X-Men In Episode 6’s opening title sequence, Nightcrawler has been added to the X-Men lineup, while the fallen Magneto and Gambit are no longer shown.
13. The Kree Empire The episode opens with a war between the Shi’ar Empire and the Kree Empire. The Kree leader Ronan the Accuser should be familiar to MCU viewers from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ronan never appeared in the original animated series, but his design in X-Men ’97 is closer to his comic-book look than his MCU incarnation.
14. A Familiar Voice Actor Returns to Marvel The new voice of Professor X is Ross Marquand. He previously voiced Ultron, Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and several variant characters in What If...?
15. Terrans The Shi’ar refer to humans from Earth as “Terrans.” In the Marvel Universe, alien civilizations often call Earth “Terra,” a name derived from Latin. Some mythological civilizations use different names, such as Asgard referring to Earth as Midgard.
16. Forge’s Magic In the comics, Forge also has a shamanic side. In this episode, we see him use magic taught to him by his mother to contain the Adversary. The visual design of the magic is quite similar to the spellcraft used by the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU’s Doctor Strange films.
The Adversary also tries to manipulate Storm through its words. Interestingly, the Adversary and Storm are voiced by the same actor, which may suggest that the entity functions as a kind of inner demon or psychological manifestation.
17. A Man of Steel Homage The moment where Storm regains her powers pays homage to the iconic first-flight scene from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. After fans pointed out the Easter egg on X, it was personally confirmed by the showrunner.
