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Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 season 1 wowed us with a gregariously large cast outside its core team members when it debuted, and when it came time to pick up where the team left off, Marvel's writer wanted to focus so much on the broader cast than just the core that he initially pitched changing the name away from X-Men '97.

That writer is Steve Foxe, and the project is Marvel Comics' current X-Men '97 season 2, an in-continuity limited series being released in conjunction with the actual X-Men '97 season 2, but intended to be essentially an X-Men '97 season 1.5 until the new cartoon season launches in July.

"Our series takes place between seasons and into the opening of Season Two’s second episode," Foxe tells AIPT's Chris Hassan. "That involved a LOT of cooperation with the Marvel Studios team, who were incredibly generous with their time and insight, as well as with all sorts of scenes and character background that didn’t make it into the show." 

Foxe said he's already watched the entire second season of X-Men '97, and he was able to consult the scripts as well as the animation team themselves to create the most seamless story, bridging the two seasons of the hit cartoon.

When asked about the possibility of Marvel Comics' X-Men '97 season 2 focusing on more than just the core roster and instead on some of the vibrant heroes, villains, and loveable weirdos we saw, heard, and glimpsed in season 1, Foxe said it's not just a possibility - it's something that led him to want to change the name. 

"It would be a shame not to check in on everyone at least a little bit, given the great status quo they were all left in at the end of Season One, but what I can say is that I pitched calling this something OTHER than X-Men ‘97," says Foxe. "So I wouldn’t expect this to focus on the core cast for the majority of the page count. And! If there are characters you don’t get enough of in the pages of this series, you may be in luck elsewhere before too long…"

Yes, I'm reading into that last sentence a lot as well, but I'll hold off for now.

X-Men '97 Season 2 is underway now in comics, and the actual X-Men '97 Season 2 debuts July 1 on Disney+.

To me, my X-Men fans. Want more about Marvel's mutants? You don't need Cerebro to find what you should read next... we made a list!

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• How to watch the X-Men movies in order