X-Men '97 Footage Wows Comic-Con Crowd As First Details Surface Online

San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing, and despite actors not attending in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA strike, there's still plenty of news coming out of the legendary convention. During the "Designing the X-Men" panel, Marvel surprised audiences, giving them an exclusive first look at the upcoming animated series "X-Men '97."

According to The Cosmic Circus, one clip shows the X-Men interrogating Dr. Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels, who will be one of the primary antagonists of the reboot. Jean Grey uses her telepathy to enter his mind, and not only is she pregnant, but it looks like Rachel Summers is on the way. @UncannyLZ described Jean using Cerebro, which induced a vision where she was no longer pregnant, and a baby resembling Rachel approached her.

Cyclops also got his time in the spotlight at SDCC, with footage featuring him saying a variation of his iconic "To me, my X-Men" line. Another clip showed the X-Men falling through the air and Cyclops using his laser beams to slow their descent. According to CBR, one clip revealed Master Mold's presence in the series and confirmed Archangel and Bishop as official members of the X-Men.

"X-Men '97" Season 1 hasn't even hit Disney+ yet, but the "Designing the X-Men" panel gave fans some insight into how Season 2 is coming along. At San Diego Comic-Con, the creative minds behind the "X-Men: The Animated Series" reboot said that Season 2 is still in development and is "nearing completion" of the writing phase. While this is great news for X-Men fans, the unfortunate truth is that if it's in the writing phase, the creative team will likely have halted production as part of the ongoing Writers Guild strike. While that's a necessary decision, it means that Marvel Studios could delay the release of "X-Men '97" Season 2. 

However, we aren't sure when Season 1 will hit Disney+, so there might not be a need to delay Season 2. Outside of a vague fall 2023 release date for Season 1 that was revealed a year ago, Marvel Studios hasn't given any more updates on when fans can expect the arrival of the animated mutants, so Season 1 could get pushed to 2024.

Regardless of when "X-Men '97" finally hits Disney+, it's sure to be worth the wait. Recently, a line of "X-Men '97" toys confirmed one leader's big change and provided a new look at the team, which will have Magento at its head as the longtime enemy steps in during Professor X's absence. With SDCC confirming Archangel's and Bishop's roles in the new X-Men, they will join fellow newcomer Sunspot as the team's newest members.