Who Is Mother Askani? The ‘X-Men ‘97’ Hero, Explained
X-Men ‘97 (2024) has been a rewarding expansion of the original animated universe, with plenty of deep cuts like Mother Askani appearing. The legacy sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series (1992) has had a lot of fun with blending not just classic elements of the X-Men comics into the show, but also adding in characters and elements from the comics that debuted after the run of the original show.
This includes a willingness to tackle some of the weirder and wilder aspects of the franchise, including the time-traveling adventures of characters like Cable. A crucial figure in his story is Mother Askani, who was established as a big force for good at the end of the first season, but that’s only a fraction of what the character could be down the line. Here’s everything you need to know about Mother Askani ahead of X-Men ‘97 and what her true connection to the Summers/Grey family is.
Mother Askani Is Set For An Important Role In ‘X-Men ‘97’
Appearing in the final moments of X-Men ‘97’s first season, Mother Askani has a crucial role to play in the larger lore of the X-Men universe that she may not even get to fully showcase in the show. Introduced as the matriarch of the Askani Clan in the distant future, Mother Askani quickly becomes an ally to Scott and Jean once they find themselves stranded in the distant future. In the comics, it was Mother Askani instead of Bishop who brought young Nathan Summers into the future to save him from the Techno-Organic Virus that was killing him. Mother Askani plays a key role in raising him in the comics alongside Slym and Redd, two wanderers who were eventually revealed to be a time-displaced Scott and Jean.
This seems to be the direction the show is taking with the characters, giving Cyclops and Jean Grey a chance to raise Nathan instead of missing out on his entire life. In the comics, Mother Askani was a major force for good—although her efforts to prepare contingencies in case Nathan died before he could defeat Apocalypse led to the creation of the villainous clone, Stryfe. Mother Askani eventually sacrificed herself in the comics to help Cable, using the last of her strength to send Scott and Jean back to their present day. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the animated show take a similar direction, especially as a means of restoring the pair to their proper place in the timeline. What remains to be seen is whether or not the show will address Mother Askani’s secret identity and wild history.
Rachel Summers Could Reshape The X-Men Animated Universe
In the original comics, Mother Askani was introduced as her own character—but ret-cons eventually revealed she was Rachel Summers. Born in an alternate reality parallel to the core Marvel Universe, Rachel was the daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. As revealed in the storyline “Days of Future Past” that went on to inspire the film X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), the Sentinels were able to be fully unleashed on the world, leading to the near eradication of the mutant race and the destruction of North America as we know it. Rachel was one of the prisoners of the mutant camps that followed and even had a cameo in the grim future Cable references in the first season.
Rachel was one of the only survivors of her team’s effort to change the past—although the present-day was saved from that grim future, the multiversal rules laid out in Avengers: Endgame (2019) are consistent with Marvel lore. This means that the timeline remained real. Rachel eventually made her way over to the core timeline, however, developing a bond with the X-Men and eventually becoming a founding member of the British-based team Excalibur. After being lost in the time-stream, saving her teammate Captain Britain, Rachel accepted her role as Mother Askani and protected the baby brother she had in this timeline.
This also meant the grown Cable was able to rescue her when she “died,” setting up Rachel’s return as a powerful figure in the X-Men comics. Rachel is a complicated character to explain, even compared to other time-travel heroes like Cable or Bishop. However, she does add a lot of fun layers to the universe and makes for a powerful hero—as well as one of the team’s more prominent gay characters in modern stories. After years of subtext about the character’s sexuality, Rachel has been dating Betsy Braddock, aka Captain Britain, since the Krakoa Age. Rachel could be a fun complicating factor to bring back into X-Men ‘97’s future seasons after her tenure as Mother Askani, especially if she gets to come into being as a result of the show’s new focus on time travel.
