This week on the Podcast, Brian and Darryl are back after an unexpected hiatus due to Brian’s Achilles Tendon surgery, and they are reviewing the second half of X-Men ’97 season 1!

Intro: 0:07 X-Men ’97: 4:02

Out 10 Are Charles and Magnus an Items Darryl: 9/10 Brian: 8.5/10

Season Summary X-Men ’97 begins with Cyclops uncovering a new anti-mutant technology, leading to a reunion with an old foe and the addition of a new team member. Magneto, now leading the X-Men due to Charles Xavier’s last will, faces trial for his past crimes, while anti-mutant rioters test his resolve. As the team confronts a visitor with a dangerous secret, Jubilee is transported into a 16-bit video game, reliving the X-Men’s greatest adventures. The season continues with Genosha preparing to join the UN, leading to political intrigue and media scrutiny for the X-Men. Storm faces her worst fears in a two-part storyline involving her relationship with Forge. Cyclops targets Bolivar Trask but discovers a deeper manipulation at play. The season culminates in a three-part epic where the X-Men must unite against a formidable new threat, challenging their unity and the dream of peaceful mutant-human coexistence

Episode 6: “Lifedeath (Part 2)”

Directed by: Chase Conley Written by: Beau DeMayo Release Date: April 17, 2024 Summary: During a war between the Shi’ar and Kree empires, Shi’ar empress Lilandra Neramani announces her engagement to a now-healed Xavier. Refusing to accept her sister marrying a Terran, Deathbird invokes the Rite of M’Dashaa and challenges Xavier to purge all his memories of Earth to prove his loyalty to the Shi’ar. Xavier’s refusal to renounce his memories of the X-Men results in a battle between the Shi’ar Imperial Guard and Deathbird’s supporters until Xavier pulls everyone into the astral plane to educate them on co-existence. When this lesson is interrupted by a psychic vision of Gambit’s death, Xavier returns to Earth. At the ranch, Forge uses his mother’s spell book to expel the demon and then Storm helps him search for a rare cactus that cures the poison. Storm finds the cactus in a cave but is again cornered by the Adversary. Overcoming her fears, Storm regains her powers and defeats the Adversary. Storm heals Forge, and then they learn about the attack on Genosha. Elsewhere, Trask is confronted by Mister Sinister who warns that Genosha was just the beginning.

Episode 7: “Bright Eyes”

Directed by: Emi Yonemura Written by: Beau DeMayo Release Date: April 24, 2024 Summary: As the X-Men hold a funeral for Gambit, Rogue angrily searches for Gyrich and Trask. After gaining information from General Thunderbolt Ross and Captain America, Rogue finds Gyrich in Mexico and absorbs his memories. Gyrich is murdered later that night. While assisting in the recovery efforts at Genosha, the X-Men are contacted by a terrified Trask who tells them that he is in Madripoor. They get Rogue on the way. Roberto and Jubilee visit Roberto’s mother and tell her that he is a mutant; she asks him to keep his identity a secret. In Madripoor, the X-Men learn that Sinister and the UN’s secret “OZT” division have been developing a highly advanced Sentinel program. Rogue drops Trask to his death, unknowingly activating programming that turns him into a human–Sentinel hybrid. Cable arrives, defeats Trask with an EMP, and explains that Sinister is working with a greater threat that they must stop. This threat, who murdered Gyrich, is Bastion. He reveals to Sinister that Xavier is alive in space and that Magneto, presumed dead in the Genosha attack, is also alive and is Bastion’s prisoner.

Episode 8: “Tolerance is Extinct