How Did 'X-Men: The Animated Series' End?
X-Men: The Animated Series (1992) was a monumental series for Marvel and showed that cartoons could be more than simple entertainment. After five seasons and a shift in animation studios, the final episode, “Graduation Day,” aired.
Marking the end of this series for decades, it was more of a comma in what would continue with X-Men ‘97 (2024). But what came of it were many cliffhangers that have to be understood to make its sequel series worthwhile. It also continues to show why it’s worth getting excited for the continuation of X-Men ‘97, with its second season coming to Disney+ on July 1, 2026.
‘X-Men: The Animated Series‘ Marked the End of Professor Xavier’s Story
X-Men: The Animated Series had a finale that focused less on spectacle and more on character, as it showed Professor X challenging Henry Gyrich’s beliefs on Mutant containment. But when Gyrich attacks Xavier, his powers go haywire, and he’s plunged into a coma.
On his deathbed, the X-Men challenge Magneto, who has assembled an army on Genosha to combat the humans, to get him to use his powers to amplify Xavier’s and get a message to the Shi’ar queen, Lilandra, as she’s the only one who could save him. Magneto agrees, and as Xavier shares parting words, he dies, for a moment. Lilandra gets to Xavier in time to revive him and takes him away to the Shi’ar Empire to heal as his Children of the Atom watch him leave. The series ends with the promise that the X-Men won’t stop, but it will be decades until we see how their story progresses.
‘X-Men: The Animated Series‘ Finale Set the Stage for ‘X-Men ‘97‘
X-Men ‘97 had a lot of loose ends to pick up on, and it paid off when the season started. The best part was that all of it was still tied heavily into the comics lore, with Magneto being tasked with leading the X-Men. But in the case of what happened to Professor X, that was explained in massive detail over the course of a few episodes.
It was revealed that after being healed, he started a life with Lilandra. While the Shi’ar didn’t accept him, he still fought to help the warring factions of the species see logic and accept him in the process. Though he was happy to live a life of peace with Lilandra, the genocide on Genosha reached his mind, and he was called back to Earth.
Upon returning, he gathered his X-Men in a final plan to stop Bastion and his new Sentinels from killing all Mutants and taking over the world, finally wrapping up the biggest loose end of the original series. On a lighter note, though, X-Men ‘97 Season 1 also confirmed small things that happened between the series, such as Morph staying with the team and Genosha becoming a place of peace rather than war.
‘X-Men ‘97‘ Season 2 Is Charting a New Course in Storytelling
X-Men ‘97 Season 1 bridged a years-long gap between the original animated series and the revival. Because of that, it was hard to continue with new stories as old ones still had to be explored and wrapped up. Now X-Men ‘97 Season 2 can give audiences a rare chance to see how the show can progress without being too tethered to the past.
There are still elements of what came before that will absolutely impact the future of the series. The biggest one is Apocalypse, who initially appeared in the first animated series but is set to be the major villain in X-Men ‘97 Season 2. The X-Men will be combating his growth and fighting his onslaught in the past and future while fighting in the present, and that also means more for Professor X to work with as well.
X-Men ‘97 Season 2 is exciting because we don’t really know what’s to come aside from the fact that it will adapt some exciting stories from the comics. It’s an era for these characters to try new things that add to the already mature legacy the revival has established. In many ways, it proves that X-Men: The Animated Series’ finale was the end of an era, and X-Men ‘97 is something new entirely.
