‘The Gifted’ Easter Egg Teases Possible Future Villain

Tonight’s season finale episode of The Gifted featured a sly Easter egg that may hint at a villain soon to come.

SPOILERS for The Gifted Season One finale follow.

In The Gifted finale, Sentinel Services investigated anyone connected to Otto Strucker’s research. This included his wife, Reed Strucker’s mother.

Reed found his mother and warned her about Sentinel Services. He also asked his mother for the name of anyone who may have more information on Otto’s work. She gave him the name of a researcher: Madeline Risman.

That name may ring a bell for X-Men fans. While Madeline Risman isn’t a known character, Matthew Risman is. Matthew is the leader of the Purifiers, a religious group who believe all mutants are demons.

The Gifted introduced the Purifiers late in Season One. A flashback showed an altercation between Purifiers and Blink, and Blink was so disturbed by the Purifier mob that she ended up in the Brotherhood.

Neither Madeline nor Matthew Risman appear in the finale. ComicBook.com asked The Gifted showrunner Matt Nix about the Purifiers’ future role.

“Obviously, there are a lot of conversations to be had with the networks, studios, producers and things like that, so I’m hesitant a few days from a renewal to promise specific things, but I will say we did not drop the name ‘Madeline Risman’ into the show by accident,” Nix says. “One of the things I can say about the Purifiers is they’re just regular people a lot of them. It’s a thing that can exist everywhere. It’s not the Sentinel Services. It’s not a place that, I mean, it might have a headquarters, but you can work at a supermarket and be a Purifier. That’s a really interesting avenue, I think, to explore so that the show is not simply an endless battle between the Sentinel Services and the Underground.”

“So, what I love about the Purifiers is that they can be anybody and in a way that’s a lot scarier,” he continues. “The Sentinel Services, as scary as they are, you know where they are and they’re bound by law. They’re bound by at least to some extent by laws, and the need to put people in jail and be called before congressional committees, but you know, Purifiers don’t have that same thing. They’re just misguided people with the sweatshirts with the crosses on them.”

The Gifted will return to FOX in 2017.