X-Men ’97’s Jennifer Hale Talks Tackling Marvel’s Most Complicated Story in Season 2

X-Men ’97 has become one of the biggest animated series on Disney+ and for good reason. Marvel’s merry mutants created some of the best work in the MCU’s history so it should come as no surprise that not only has a second season been confirmed, but a third as well. Recently, we here at ComicBook.com had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer Hale, the voice of Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor, about season two and how she was preparing to handle adapting one of the most complicated X-Men storylines of all time. Needless to say, tackling Cable’s origin story is going to be no cakewalk when X-Men ’97 returns.

As a refresher for those who need reminding what happened in X-Men ’97’s first season finale, Cyclops and Jean Grey found themselves hurled into the future. With many of the X-Men now displaced in time, Scott Summers and Jean run into a futuristic tribe known as “The Askani” and will, if the series sticks to the comics, raise Nathaniel Grey, aka Cable. While Cable might be Scott’s son, he is not the son of Jean but rather, the son of her clone Madelyne. In the original comics, this storyline had so many moving pieces that is routinely thought of as one of the X-Men’s most complicated stories to date.

[RELATED: X-Men ’97 Star Makes Surprising Season 3 Announcement (But Where Is Season 2?)]

Raising Cable

Hale discussed tackling this intricate storyline in the upcoming second season and how she prepared to jump into the future to help raise Cable, “One of the things that I do when I jump into a role, especially with a universe like this that has so many iterations, I will jump in and put on blinders. I think about what does this creative team want within this rendition of the universe, so I try to stay true to whatever they want. With season two’s script, I really jump into the universe. Sometimes it can be super helpful to know the other pieces like the source material but I don’t want to stray at all with the beautiful reality that the creators are looking for.”

Hale also discussed taking on the roles of both Jean and Madelyne in the latest series, “They come from the same being and this is where I have to shout out our voice director Meredith Lane. One of the reasons I was able to jump into these characters so much is that because Meredith is there and she can allow me to run as far as I can in one direction, and she can keep me on track. I can really let loose within that because she is there.”

While no release date has been revealed for X-Men ’97, production is well underway for the next chapter of Marvel’s animated mutant team. Alongside the Askani storyline, there are quite a few cliffhangers that were presented in the first season finale, potentially setting the stage for a season that might overcome the premiere.

Want to stay in the know when it comes to the animated Marvel mutants? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.