Entertainment
X-Men ’97’ Is Officially Fixing the Original Show’s Biggest Plot Hole 33 Years Later
Disney+’s X-Men ’97 has signaled a true return to Marvel excitement. The animated series returned to the airwaves in 2024, signaling a new age: the age of Apocalypse. Viewers have been waiting for Season 2 of the refreshing, soapy resurgence of the X-Men, and now have the opportunity to correct a long-running continuity error.
In the original run of the X-Men: The Animated Series, one of the big plot holes had to do with Warren Worthington III, otherwise known as Angel. He first appears in Season 1, where there is no indication that he was ever part of Xavier’s original team. Angel is one of the original five, but in the series, he does not appear to have any prior knowledge of the X-Men. Seasons later, this would be contradicted when he was officially established as one of the original five X-Men. These types of retcons can happen, especially when shows aren’t planned out, but X-Men ‘97 appears to resolve this officially. According to the new X-Men ‘97 trailer, Angel’s history is being put to rest.
‘X-Men ‘97’ Season 2 Confirms Angel’s Role In the X-Men
It’s been three decades, and X-Men is finally able to right some wrongs. Already, the sophomore season of one of the greatest animated series of the last five years seems to be everything that fans have been waiting for, including some hints about Ange’s future in the storyline. In a blink and you’ll miss it moment, the green-haired mistress of metal, Polaris, is looking at photographs. One features Angel in original X-Men garb alongside the rest of the original mutants of Xavier’s team. This doubles down on the fact that Angel is an original X-Men member, though it doesn’t necessarily fix the Season 1 continuity error.
That may be addressed, however, considering the direction that the season is going in. Apocalypse is coming for the X-Men, and to make matters most dire, he is using time travel to wipe out all vestiges of the team. The mutant ensemble is no stranger to time travel, but this could be a way for the series to put to rest Angel’s murky past altogether. Though unconfirmed, the fact that time travel is a tool in the new season may hint at how Angel’s timeline could finally make sense.
If mutants are hobnobbing all over time and space, perhaps it could explain why Angel seemed to have no recollection of his time with the X-Men in the first season of the series. Of course, when it comes to scale, this is likely the least of the X-Men’s worries. As shown in the trailer, Angel is returning to the small screen in one of his most infamous capacities.
Angel Returns in ‘X-Men ‘97’ As One of the Four Horsemen
When X-Nen ‘97 returns next month, there is a lot of ground to cover. The stakes have never been higher as Apocalypse vows to erase the timeline of all evidence of the X-Men. Comic fans know that where Apocalypse goes, the Four Horsemen are likely to follow. While there have been many Horsemen in the run of X-Men comics, Angel is one of the most well-known. The Season 2 trailer confirms his return — and in a slightly sharper form.
A brief moment in the trailer shows Angel’s return as Archangel, Apocalypse’s Horseman with metal wings. Using blades to fight the X-Men, it appears that he is returning as the Horseman of Death, as he was first introduced in the previous iteration of the animated series. With the inclusion of the Age of Apocalypse, Archangel’s appearance isn’t that surprising. However, it does confirm that X-Men ‘97 isn’t just here to capitalize on nostalgia. It is the very lifeblood that Marvel has needed all this time.
Marvel has recently been backsliding into tired old dynamics when fans have needed something new. The X-Men aren’t necessarily new to Marvel, but this new version of the animated series proves that all fans want is quality programming that has a creative force behind it. Confirming Angel’s role in the X-Men celebrates the previous series while also recontextualizing it for a new era of media consumption. X-Men ‘97 is a perfect combination of the new and the old and is ushering in a new age for Marvel.
- Release Date
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March 20, 2024
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley
- Writers
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Charlie Feldman, Anthony Sellitti, Beau DeMayo, JB Ballard
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