The X-Men are one of the single most iconic superhero teams in the history of comic books. The superhero group has been in everything, from films to video games to television, and their domination of pop culture continues with the second season of “X-Men ‘97”
The second season, which premiered on Disney+ on July 1, picks up where the first season left off: the X-Men have been scattered across the past and the future by a mysterious force, with Forge and Bishop desperately trying to find a way to bring them back. And they’ll have to hurry, with both the rogue group X-Force and the government-backed X-Factor attempting to take the X-Men’s place as protectors of both human and mutant kind. A dark threat looms on the horizon, and this threat has a name…Apocalypse.
The season stars returning and new cast members, including Ray Chase returning as Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men. Cal Dodd lends his voice to the hot-headed Wolverine once more; Jennifer Hale returns as the voice of the uber-powerful telepath Jean Grey. Lenore Zann returns to voice the superpowered southern belle Rogue. George Buza gives his voice to the animalistic yet empathetic and smart Beast once again. Gil Birmingham returns to voice the super-genius inventor mutant Forge. Isaac Robinson Smith returns to voice the energy-absorbing mutant from the future, Bishop.
New to the series is Carolina Ravassa of Overwatch fame as Polaris, the heroic daughter of Magneto who shares his control over magnetism. Teddy Sears of “American Horror Story” and “The Flash” fame as Havoc, the leader of X-Factor who possesses the mutant power of energy blasts. And Naoko Mori of “Torchwood” and “Spice World” fame as Psylocke, a member of X-Force who is both a master martial artist and also possesses the power to generate psychic blades.
Now what did I think of this season? Well, I really, really liked it. Just like thelast season, I feel like it is incredibly well done. The voice acting is phenomenal as always, and the animation is extraordinary as well. My only complaint would be that the show sometimes gets sidetracked on filler episodes that don’t advance the plot, though it doesn’t happen enough to be a huge problem – more of a slight annoyance, really. All in all, a great season, seven and a half torches out of 10.
