Marvel Just Debuted The Most Danger-ous X-Men Villain On-Screen
X-Men '97 (2024) Season 2 does an amazing job of introducing ideas from Marvel Comics that actually took place later than the '90s. In Season 2, Episode 6, "Danger.Exe," the X-Men villain Danger makes his debut, but some fans may not know him.
Danger's appearance and her effect on the psyche of Charles Xavier have a significant impact that goes far beyond her. In fact, she's not only a dangerous new villain but also the harbinger of another deadly X-Men foe who was already teased in Season 1.
Marvel Comics Proved That Danger Can Anticipate Anything
Danger was first introduced in the pages of Astonishing X-Men, and she was the product of years of upgrading. Initially just the artificial intelligence used to power the Danger Room, she eventually gained sentience, and Xavier hid it from his students. With every destruction and rebuilding of the Danger Room, her intelligence grew until she eventually started to make her own decisions. Coercing a student to take their own life, Danger eventually created a body and sought to get revenge on her "father," Professor X.
It took the combined might of the X-Men to stop Danger, and that was only after a crippling defeat, considering she has all the intelligence of the Danger Room, including its ability to anticipate the actions of the X-Men. When it comes to powers, Danger can also fly and has super strength and stamina, as well as the ability to technoform technology to her will.
Ultimately, Danger spent a lot of time being an enemy to the X-Men but has eventually found a shaky understanding between them, knowing that mutants are her people. Still, she is not a fully reformed villain.
'X-Men '97' Showed How Trauma Created Danger
Following the surprisingly violent death of Magneto at the hands of Apocalypse, Professor X is never the same. While the loss doesn't fracture his mind, he finds himself struggling to work past the moment when part of his world ended.
We see him in the Danger Room constantly replying to the words Apocalypse uttered to him, and the more he does it, the more the Danger Room learns until the foot that was over the Professor's head nearly kills him in the simulation.
This moment marks the transition where Danger is born, as she wants to prepare the Professor for the threats he has to face. But this also means seeking him out specifically with the intent of killing him.
Without the trauma that Professor Xavier endured, we wouldn't have Danger, and it says a lot about the repressed rage Xavier feels over the situation and how that could affect him in the future. But even beyond Danger, it's further confirmation of a looming mutant threat that could be even more deadly than Apocalypse and hit the Professor even closer to home than the Danger Room.
Professor X's Loss Could Introduce An Even Deadlier X-Men Villain
During the adaptation of the "Fatal Attractions" arc in X-Men '97 Season 1, Professor X goes into and shuts down Magneto's mind. But this also intrinsically links the memories and emotions of both into one. What results from both sides' negative emotions is a powerful villain known as Onslaught.
Onslaught hasn't appeared in the series yet but was teased not only in Season 1 but also in "Danger.exe." With Danger analyzing Xavier's mind and him mentioning the negativity he feels and all the dark emotions tied to the memories lost with Magneto, it lays a foundation for Onslaught.
Onslaught has the powers of both Xavier and Magneto and, with their combined rage, is virtually unstoppable. With the Sentinels in Season 1 of X-Men '97 and Apocalypse in Season 2, it's safe to say the X-Men deserve a break. But if Onslaught is on the way, the break they are hoping for won't be coming anytime soon.
While it seems like a big bad is on the way and one the team may not be able to stop, Danger is still a character whose episode was a standout in the series. We won't have Onslaught without her, and hopefully this isn't the last we see of her.
