Storm Just Proved Why She's An Omega-Level Mutant In X-Men '97 (But How Can She Do It?)
X-Men ‘97 (2024) has continued to deliver some impressive moments of heroism and power that haven’t been seen in a Marvel show since, and no one knows this better than Storm. In the Season 2 premiere of the series, she used her power to save her friends by conjuring a massive cosmic storm.
Because Ororo’s main strength is to control the weather, reaching out to space may seem a bit far-fetched, but X-Men ‘97 has helped make such a leap in logic work. Plus, with it honoring her comic roots, it also sets her up for an even more powerful future as the series goes on.
How Does Storm Summon a Cosmic Storm in ‘X-Men ‘97’?
X-Men ‘97 had already teased that we were scratching the surface of Storm’s powers when she regained them in Season 1. Aside from the inexplicable ability to create a brand new costume, we got to understand how she connects to the environment and why it was so empowering to see her take to the skies again.
With Season 2, it was a matter of ensuring that she could tap into that well again as she and her teammates were trapped in a distant future ruled by Apocalypse. While trying to rescue Scott, Jean, and Nathan, she was tasked with powering her team’s ship, which could only run on cosmic energy.
Harnessing the power of the sun, she conjured a cosmic storm that teased her Omega-Level mutant status. It’s no easy feat to do what she did, and the way she did it was by having faith in herself and believing she could literally touch the cosmos with her abilities. While she only did this once, the most shocking thing was that she wasn’t even tired after doing so.
Storm’s Major Feat Nods to Her Comic Roots
To anyone who only knew of Storm from movies and television, it would make sense to think that what she’s doing is far beyond the suspension of disbelief the X-Men already have. But in reality, this nods heavily to her feats in the comics.
Her earliest use of weather manipulation through space was in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men, but since then she’s proven that she can also control the weather of other planets as well. Most famously, she used her abilities to terraform Mars into Arrako during the Krakoan Era.
Now, Storm’s power has made her one of the strongest mutants in existence. With her bloodline being tied to African sorceresses, it also means she has a deep connection to the energies around her, likely adding to her mutant abilities.
In essence, Storm’s powers in the comics are only limited by her imagination, and it makes her an incredible force to be reckoned with. But when factoring in what she’s capable of from the books, it goes to show how little we’ve seen in X-Men ‘97, and there’s a lot of potential for her future as the show continues.
What Does Storm’s New Power Mean for Her Future?
Storm channeling the electromagnetic fields of space to create a cosmic storm is nothing to laugh at. But more than that, it’s a sign that we’ve only scratched the surface of what more she can do in the future. As of now, she’s had no other reason to push herself beyond what we’ve already seen, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be other opportunities.
We’ve seen Jean push herself with the Phoenix Force and without it, and we’ve seen Magneto nearly end the world with her powers, but Storm is a totally different situation, as her powers are ones that few consider to be strong. But now that we’ve seen an example of what she can do, it means that she could be a secret weapon against Apocalypse.
Her strength could also classify her on a totally different level by the time she returns to the ‘90s and make her a viable leader of the team alongside Scott Summers. For now, we don’t know what will become of Storm as her abilities continue to grow, but from what we’ve seen so far, she’s no one to scoff at. Cosmic storms could be the start of her using the weather in other creative ways, and she may be the key to saving the world.
