The 'X-Men '97' S2 Post-Credits Scene May Reveal Season 3's Big Bad
From the first Iron Man (2008) film, we have been conditioned to anticipate a mid-credits or post-credits sequence from a Marvel project that teases things to come. These moments are often mysterious, exciting, or even both, and it's great to see what the future holds, even in shows like X-Men '97 (2024) Season 2.
But the X-Men '97 Season 2 post-credits scene takes things to a whole new level in the X-Men's world as it shows the return of a classic villain, the apparent death of a prominent character, and the promise of more dangers to come. The best part is that the potential big bad for Season 3 is one no one would've expected.
Mystique Returns With A Bang In 'X-Men '97'
One character that has played a major role in the animated X-Men universe has been Mystique. The mother of Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Graydon Creed, it's a shock that someone so important hasn't been seen in a while.
All of that changed, though, when Mystique, disguised as Val Cooper, sat in Val's office looking up a file of herself and other associates, aka members tied to the Freedom Force. This was a team first created by Cooper before X-Factor and was made up of reformed villains like Blob and Pyro.
Aside from reintroducing Mystique, we also see the changing political climate of the show's universe and the potential assassination of Val Cooper by Mystique as she sets up a plan that could change the world forever. For someone who doesn't have the same powers as Magneto or the influence of Apocalypse, it's refreshing and scary to see how someone like her could be just as dangerous to the future of the universe and the X-Men.
The Political Landscape In 'X-Men '97' Is About To Change
One of the biggest shocks of the scene was that Graydon Creed, even after his experience with Nightcrawler and Exodus in the Savage Land, never changed how he felt about mutants. But even with his views, he managed to win the presidential election against Robert Kelly.
This alone paints a dangerous picture for mutants in X-Men '97 because we now know that things will only get harder from here as Xavier reopens his school. Creed hated his father, Sabertooth, and if Nightcrawler's sacrifice meant nothing to him, then it's unlikely he will lessen his persecution of mutants.
As a result, while Apocalypse and the Sentinel Program have been thwarted for now, other threats could appear and change the course of mutant history. With Mystique in the mix, and Val's notes saying she could attack the US, it's possible his death could carry more weight than his life.
If Mystique aims to kill Creed, it could work against the mutants and make their future worse than anything we've seen before. Considering so many futures for mutants have been bleak, Season 3 could be a race against time to stop Mystique from killing someone who could be the martyr anti-mutant groups need to start a witch hunt.
A Surprising Death Could Lead To A Dangerous New Team
Another major shock that came from the X-Men '97 Season 2 post-credits scene was that while Val (really Mystique) was reading her files and watching Graydon win the election, the real Val enters and is shot by her imposter. For a split second, it seems to be a stun gun until blood comes out of Val's wound in her gut.
Mystique then finishes the job and shoots Val before cutting to black, leading us to believe that Val was killed and will now be replaced. While we don't see a body, it's hard to see why else Mystique would shoot Val again. But this opens many doors, as the two worked together in the comics while Mystique operated under her real name, Raven Darkhölme.
While this part of the story is likely not happening, we could see Mystique do similar things from the comics, like making a new team as Val. We've seen files of the Freedom Force, but we haven't seen them in action, and since it's a team made up of villains, Mystique could create this team as a secret evil group that could get her close to Creed. If so, it's the perfect plan that completely justifies why she's the perfect choice for X-Men '97 Season 3's big bad.
