Warning: This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 1.
Ten powerful villains, adapted from the pages of Marvel Comics, were pitted against the X-Men team in Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97 season 1. Marvel Animation’s revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997, premiered on Disney+ on March 20, 2024, catching up with the X-Men team roughly a year after Professor X’s departure from Earth. Released before the introduction of the X-Men into the live-action MCU, X-Men ’97 delivered comic-accurate depictions of its powerful heroes and terrifying villains alike, and featured some of the most memorable and recognizable mutant characters from Marvel Comics.
While the heroes of the X-Men team were the focus of X-Men ’97 season 1, the revival series also reintroduced some of X-Men: The Animated Series’ most formidable villains, as well as entirely new ones. Over the duration of X-Men ’97 season 1’s ten episodes, the titular team battled minor foes such as Mojo, the Adversary, and the X-Cutioner, as well as more significant antagonists, including Mister Sinister, Bastion, and Magneto. Indeed, some of these villains made a much larger impact than others, and the stage has been set for more powerful foes to appear in X-Men ’97 season 2.
Mojo only appeared in half of one episode of X-Men ’97 season 1, popping up to battle Jubilee and Sunspot in “Motendo.” Mojo feeds off of audience engagement, so pulls Jubilee and Sunspot into an old Motendo console, where the pair engage in recreations of Jubilee’s previous battles, including one on Genosha, one in the Savage Land, a Days of Future Past adventure, and her initial battle with Sentinels in X-Men: The Animated Series.
While Jubilee wants to stay inside the game, taking enjoyment from reliving her previous adventures, she is convinced by her older self from the game’s beta version, Abscissa, to defeat Mojo. This is a relatively easy task for Jubilee and Sunspot, who are soon returned to the real world, marking a very short return from the obscure Marvel villain who previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series season 2 episode “Mojovision” and season 3 episode “Longshot.”
Similarly to Mojo, the X-Cutioner only appears in one X-Men ’97 episode, but has more of an impact than the video game-themed villain. The X-Cutioner is the leader of the Friends of Humanity, who pose an ever-present threat to mutantkind throughout any media featuring the superpowered Marvel Comics characters, but especially in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97. A new weapon in X-Men ’97 made the X-Cutioner even more powerful, however.
The X-Cutioner and the Friends of Humanity gatecrashed Magneto’s trial at the United Nations in X-Men ’97 episode 2, “Mutant Liberation Begins,” kitted out with new weapons that emit radiation blasts capable of depowering mutants. While the X-Cutioner tries to depower Magneto, it’s actually Storm that takes this hit for the X-Men’s then-leader, ridding her of her weather manipulation powers. This ultimately causes Storm to leave the X-Men, so the X-Cutioner had a lasting impact on the team.
The demon-like Adversary first appeared in the form of an innocent owl in X-Men ’97 episode 4’s second half, “Lifedeath – Part 1.” This story saw Storm and Forge try to reignite Storm’s abilities, though the Adversary was making this impossible. After poisoning Forge and trapping Storm at his ranch in episode 4, the Adversary had a larger role in X-Men ’97 episode 6, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” and posed an even more terrifying threat to the still-depowered Storm.
During X-Men ’97 episode 6, Storm heads out to search for a cactus capable of curing Forge of the Adversary’s poison, but is once again cornered by the looming demon. Storm realizes that her fear of the frightening bird-like creature is what’s holding her back from getting her powers back, so she overcomes her fears, obliterates the Adversary, and becomes even more powerful than before, with a new costume to boot.
While Deathbird didn’t pose a threat to the entire X-Men team, she did almost mark the end of the line for Professor X himself. Deathbird was introduced as a warrior of the Shi’ar Empire alongside the Imperial Guard in X-Men ’97 episode 6, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” and proved her power immediately by taking down the Kree antagonist Ronan. Following this dramatic battle, Deathbird learns that her sister, Lilandra, plans to marry Professor X, much to the Shi’ar Empire’s dismay.
Deathbird’s enactment of the Rite of M’Dashaa, hoping to have Charles Xavier wipe all memory of Earth and the X-Men from his mind, proving his loyalty to the Shi’ar. This brutal action could have eliminated one of the X-Men’s strongest allies, all because of Deathbird’s hatred for humanity, though this was avoided by Professor X cleverly lecturing Deathbird and others on how to harbor a peaceful co-existence between two species.
X-Men ’97 episode 5, “Remember It,” was perhaps the most intense episode of the series’ first season, as a Wild Sentinel attacked the mutant nation of Genosha, killing many mutant characters. This event occurred during Magneto and Rogue’s inauguration gala as the new leaders of Genosha, and marked the deaths of many iconic characters, including Banshee, Marrow, Moira MacTaggert, Dazzler, Sebastian Shaw, Callisto, Leech, and Madelyne Pryor. This also marked the end of the road for beloved X-Men member Gambit.
This sheer level of destruction makes the Wild Sentinel one of X-Men ’97’s most powerful villains, despite only being a short-lived antagonist. The Wild Sentinel was later revealed to be working under the control of Mister Sinister and Bastion, who used the attack on Genosha as a reason to gain more funding for Operation: Zero Tolerance. Due to this, the Wild Sentinel’s actions only boost the threat of Bastion himself.
For the first two episodes of X-Men ’97, nothing seemed untoward about Jean Grey, but episode 3, “Fire Made Flesh,” revealed that the Jean Grey that had been present with the X-Men was actually a clone of the original. Shortly after this was revealed, Mister Sinister activated his control over Jean’s clone, transforming her into the powerful Goblin Queen. This allowed her to create vivid illusions of demons and monsters inside the X-Mansion, and caused bigger problems for the X-Men team.
The Goblin Queen’s activation allowed Mister Sinister to steal Nathan Summers, Cyclops and Jean Grey’s clone’s newborn son. The Goblin Queen even had the power to take control of other mutants, as she did with Morph, who transformed from Magik into Darkchylde. Indeed, the Goblin Queen eventually turned her back on Sinister, and renamed herself Madelyne Pryor, but this left a massive impact on Cyclops and Jean Grey’s relationship.
Alongside regular Sentinel robots, that pose an ever-present, but nowadays minor, threat to mutants and the X-Men, the Prime Sentinels were also introduced in X-Men ’97 episode 7, “Bright Eyes.” These were terrifying additions to X-Men ’97’s villain roster, as Prime Sentinels are regular humans who have been unknowingly given cybernetic enhancements which transform them into organic Sentinels when provoked by, or in the presence of, mutants. The first human to transform was iconic X-Men antagonist Bolivar Trask.
The activation of the Prime Sentinels was part of Operation: Zero Tolerance, a plan by human-Sentinel hybrid Bastion to bring mutantkind to its knees, enslaving these superpowered characters in a future utopia designed for humans. Cybernetic enhancements gifted these humans incredible abilities, meaning the powers of mutants, including Rogue, Cyclops, Beast, and Wolverine, were meaningless. This makes the Prime Sentinels remarkably powerful villains, who were only taken down by Magneto’s electromagnetic pulse.
Mister Sinister is one of the X-Men’s most formidable villains in Marvel Comics, so it was brilliant to see him return in X-Men ’97. Sinister posed a significant danger to the X-Men throughout X-Men ’97, first appearing in episode 3 to activate Madelyne Pryor’s Goblin Queen and abduct Nathan Summers, which culminated in him infecting the newborn with a techno-organic virus. Sinister was later revealed to be working with Bastion to enact Operation: Zero Tolerance, bringing together these two powerful villains.
What makes Mister Sinister even more terrifying is his sheer charisma and enjoyment when causing other mutants pain and suffering. His power was even proven during X-Men ’97’s finale, as Sinister was only defeated by the incomprehensible power of Jean Grey’s Phoenix, who stripped Sinister of his mutations, leaving him an aged husk. Despite this defeat, there’s no doubt Mister Sinister will be back in X-Men ’97 season 2.
Human-Sentinel hybrid Bastion was the mastermind behind many of the dramatic events in X-Men ’97 season 1, with series creator Beau DeMayo confirming that Bastion had secretly popped up in almost every episode of the season before fully revealing himself in episode 7, “Bright Eyes.” Bastion was born to a human mother and a Nimrod-infected father, giving him Sentinel physiology, despite being human. This makes him incredibly powerful, and means he has an innate hatred of mutants.