X-Men ’97 Just Reintroduced a Major Character in a Surprising Way

The debut of X-Men ’97 on Disney+ included the reintroduction of a major X-Men character, but in a slightly different way. X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the fan-favorite 90’s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series, and picks up sometime after the series finale, with Charles Xavier believed to be dead and the X-Men continuing his fight for mutant rights. The X-Men roster has been confirmed through various trailers and clips for X-Men ’97, though producer Brad Winderbaum has confirmed there will be several cameos throughout. The two-episode premiere of X-Men ’97 featured one of those cameos for a character that fans have already met before.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the two-episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on Disney+. Continue reading at your own risk!

With Professor X gone, it’s up to Scott Summers / Cyclops and Jean Grey to run the X-Men. Cyclops is bearing the weight of Professor X’s absence the most, which causes him to clash with his longtime rival and sometimes friend Wolverine. As viewers with eyes could clearly notice, Jean is sporting a baby bump in X-Men ’97, with Cyclops as the father. The couple is considering leaving the X-Men to start their family, but before that can happen, we get a glimpse of the baby when Jean uses Cerebro to search through the mind of Henry Peter Gyrich. Though the baby’s name isn’t referenced, readers of the X-Men comic will recognize the boy as Nathan Summers, aka the time-traveling Cable!

Cyclops and Jean Grey’s baby in X-Men ’97 explained

Cable made his animated debut in the first season of X-Men: The Animated Series, in the episode titled “Slave Island.” Though his origin slightly differs from his comic book counterpart, Cable is a clone of Cyclops and Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister. He fought alongside the X-Men throughout the five seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series, though it remains to be seen if X-Men ’97 will retcon his origin to match that of the comics, where Cyclops and Jean Grey had to send Nathan Summers into the future so he can be saved from the techno-organic virus.

Nathan was raised in the future, where he grew up to become Cable and fight against Apocalypse. Mister Sinister is the main villain of X-Men ’97 Season 1, so there is still time for this storyline to play out on the small screen.