X-Men’97 – Days of Past Future review S2 E1

Days of Past Future was a perfect title to kick off the second season of X-Men’97. Days of Past Future is of course a nod to the legendary two-part arc that helped define so much of the X-Men comic book lore for decades to come. It was also the title of one of the stronger films of the numerous X-Men movie franchise and Days of Past Future ties in nicely with the theme of the X-Men lost throughout time.

X-Men’97 proved the X-Men franchise could quickly become Marvel’s top pillar all over again. It just needed to be treated with respect by showrunners and writers who fully appreciated the lore and characters.

Days of Past Future kicks off with Bishop and Forge prepping to travel to two distinct periods of time. Bishop is heading to 3000 BC in the Nile Delta to track down Professor X, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Rogue and Beast while Forge is traveling to 3960 AD in the Atlantic Basin to find Cyclops, Jean, Morph, Wolverine and (naturally) Storm.

The X-Men weren’t taken there by chance as Bishop says these are two of the darkest ages in recorded history — the dawn of apocalypse’s first reign and the ultimate height of his power. It’s here that Bishop delivers the defining catchphrase for the first half of the season — “We’ve gotta get the X-men back to the 90s.”

Bishop is a tricky character in that he’s got a bit of a cheat code with the inherent knowledge he’s gained over the years. That’s put a limit on how often he can appear in X-Men’97, but his stints are always welcome.

Sadly, that’s all the time we get in Days of Past Future with Bishop. Maybe next episode? This one focuses on Forge’s rescue attempts, which nearly come to a quick end when some of Apocalypse’s robot sentries overwhelm him. Good thing Wolverine and Storm were close by. Wolverine is wearing the bandana look he sported from the comics when he lost his nose and went feral for a time. This was after Magneto yanked out the adamantium in Fatal Attractions so the timeline sorta matches up.

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Storm is wearing an homage of the X-Men training outfit while Cyclops and Jean Grey are wearing a version of their X-Factor version 2 attires. There are two potential explanations for the costume changes — the classic cartoon method to sell more toys and the second is to give Day of Past Future (and X-Men’97) even more comic book fan geek cred. Either one works.

While Slim and Red want to stay longer with the teenage Nathan, Forge correctly argues that they could be jeopardizing Cable’s future by staying with him. They plead for one more day and Storm convinces Forge to go along with their request.

Meanwhile, Apocalypse’s scribe Ozymandias — the level of just unapologetic pulls from X-Men lore is seriously impressive — tells his master that Nathan could provide a body that would spare him the pain of regeneration. That’s great news to Apocalypse who tells Ozymandius to dispatch his Horsemen to fetch him. Days of Past Future reinforces the terrifying reality of Apocalypse’s rule with hundreds of bodies strewn alongside his front gates.

Jean teaches Nathan how to stave off the virus with his telekinesis. She’s bonded with him and wants to bring Nathan back to their timeline. Maybe Mother Askani would see things their way? Days of Past Future shows the levels of X-Men’97 where you can just enjoy the cartoon to appreciate what’s playing out, but the real fun comes for comic book fans with the subtle nods to continuity even if it’s not explicitly stated. In this case that Mother Askani is Nathan’s “sister,” Rachel Summers from an alternate timeline.

Mother Askani has one of the strongest lines in Days of Past Future as she tells Scott his season is summer while Nathan’s is spring. She won’t offer him any more answers since that doesn’t help Nathan or his destiny. As Scott and Jean try to flesh out a plan to stay in the future with Nathan, they get ambushed by Apocalypse’s Final Horsemen — another deep dive that indicates the extensive knowledge the writers have of the various aspects of the X-Men’s massive history. This kind of effort is appreciated.

It falls on Storm to stop the Horsemen with some help from Mother Askani, who revealed she was the one who sent the team to the future and the past in an effort to stop Apocalypse on both fronts. Scott and Jean offer Nathan a pep talk to break their bonds while revealing they are his parents. That was a nice moment and a smart use of the recap to remind viewers of the words Scott and Jean told Nathan the night Bishop took him to the future.

As always, Storm gets some great lines in X-Men’97 see also the exact opposite of any Storm lines in the live-action films. She hypes the X-Men up by saying “we are the dawn that breaks his night” in that regal way that only Storm can utter without sounding corny. With the X-Men reinforcements on hand, Apocalypse has to retreat. He tells Ozymandius they will strike the X-Men at the time they’re most vulnerable — the 1990s.

Back in the future, Nathan prepares to step up as a leader among the Askani as Days of Past Future shifts back to the present. Cable reflects on when the reign of Apocalypse begins. He tells Archangel and Psylocke they’re the only ones who can stop him.

Special round of applause for whoever made sure that Psylocke speaks with a British accent. Their next move? Recruitment as Cable hands them a folder with pictures of Roberto and Jubilee, along with a post it with Abraham Kieros who was Apocalypse’s War when they battled X-Factor v1. That’s another crazy pull.

Days of Past Future didn’t need a long ramp to get right back into the flow of X-Men’97’s tremendous blend of action and stellar storytelling.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

Get X-Men: Days of Future Past on trade paperback at Amazon.

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