Marvel’s revival slate features X-Men ’97 as one of its most anticipated animated series, which will continue to revisit the fan-favorite original 1990’s animated series X-Men with more entertaining stories of the mutant heroes battling against bigotry and danger. Fans can’t wait for Season 2, which is expected to go darker and have much more powerful emotional challenges, more shocking deaths, more human drama, and larger-than-life conflicts led by Apocalypse after the time-bending cliffhanger of Season 1 in 2024.
X-Men ’97 Season 2: Release Date
The official release date for season 2 is Summer 2026 on Disney+, as reported by Marvel Studios during New York Comic Con in October 2025. Variety, Disney+, and several other sources confirmed that season 2 seems likely to air around mid-to-late summer 2026 (approximately June). However, there were various reports of an earlier date, but due to some unforeseen production-related delays (rewrite and animation), we now have to wait until at least 2026 before we see new episodes. Season 3 is currently greenlit and underway, and season 2 will lead up to numerous events featured in season 3.
X-Men ’97 Season 2: Cast
The core voice cast from Season 1 largely returns, with many reprising roles from the original 1990s series:
- Cal Dodd as Wolverine (James “Logan” Howlett)
- Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey (Phoenix)
- Lenore Zann as Rogue (Anna-Marie Raven)
- Ray Chase as Cyclops (Scott Summers)
- Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm (Ororo Munroe)
- Ross Marquand as Professor X (Charles Xavier)
- Matthew Waterson as Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr)
Beast, Jubilee, and other familiar characters from past series will return to the show. The trailers have shown off many new characters at the same time that they indicated there were still almost a dozen new mutant characters that had not yet been introduced for Season Two. It is worth noting that the original creator of the series, Beau DeMayo, is not part of the project anymore (he no longer has credits for Season Two because of his removal from Marvel in 2024), but the voice actors are still very good and very familiar to us.
X-Men ’97 Season 2: Plot
The second season starts where the first season concluded with an enormous cliffhanger ending due to the fact that the X-Men are separated from each other in time and space, leaving them in a compromised state as a team.
Here are the main bullet points to note during Season 2:
The overall tone of the season is darker. According to Ross Marquand, who is playing one of the cast members, “it’s really, really dark… and a lot of people die.” As a viewer, you will see high stakes, very emotionally-driven stories to follow, many characters struggling personally, and many betrayals.
The season will feature Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) as the central villain. He will make a huge return in his role. From the trailers and teasers released so far, Apocalypse is seen recruiting his Horsemen (including the possibility of Gambit being one of his Horsemen of Death), fighting against the Marvel Universe, and causing conflict between other characters.
The story arcs of this season will likely draw from some of the comic book storylines, such as Wolverine losing his adamantium, the threat posed by Onslaught, as well as some of the other classic X-Men story arcs (i.e., possible ties to Cable, time-displaced characters, and different struggles faced by mutants).
Magneto is most likely going to continue being the leader of the X-Men, going forward; the team will be presented with a “dangerous and unexpected future.”
According to Marvel, the season will “set up huge things for Season 3,” inferring major storylines and setups for possible future seasons of the show (possibly connecting to the MCU or larger storylines in the mutant universe).
The second season is projected to have approximately nine to ten episodes and maintain the same serialized, comic book-style that made Season 1 so successful (virtually perfect reviews).
All post-production voice recordings have been completed.