X-Men '97 Season 3's Returning Villain Addressed By Marvel, 31 Years After Their Last Appearance

WARNING: This article includes major spoilers from X-Men '97 season 2, episode 9.

A beloved Marvel property just left the world with a big cliffhanger.

One of the major superhero groups that have been explored in media is the mutants, with numerous X-Men TV shows over the last couple of decades. With the summer season almost over, the latest series focusing on the iconic characters has finished another season on a crucial note.

The X-Men '97 season 2 finale brought Mystique back into the fold, and not only does it bring another player from the original series, but Randall Carpenter has returned to voice her for the first time in over three decades. ScreenRant's Andy Behbakht recently spoke with supervising producer Jake Castorena, where he spoke about bringing back the iconic character after so many years, while having the same actor voice her.

Castorena was asked how the show plans to expand upon Mystique in X-Men '97 season 3 and whether or not it took a lot of convincing to bring her back, or if Carpenter was ready to go. He shared the following:

Jake Castorena: She was game from the get-go, which is great. That's the best part about a lot of our legacy cast that we are able to reach out to. They want to play! It's like, "Oh hell yeah, I'm back in, let's go."

And the best part about her voicing Mystique again is that she's like, "These are old shoes." It's just so great watching our legacy cast just fall right back into that groove.

That being said, you'll just have to watch season 3 to see if she does become as prominent of a character as people may or may not hope or ponder. I'm answering the question without really answering the question, I'm aware. That being said, I don't think Mystique fans will be disappointed.

While details on Mystique's role in X-Men '97 season 3 remain under wraps, the show will be back in 2027. A premiere date has not been announced as of writing, but the creative team has been working on the new episodes.

But Marvel Studios has more plans for the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series sequel. Even though an official renewal has not been announced yet, season 4 is in development, with scripts being written.

While Gambit was revived in X-Men '97 season 2, ScreenRant also asked the producer what the chances are of seeing Magneto get resurrected, and potentially finally see his Onslaught arc in a future season. Castorena kept things cryptic, as he stated that "our goal in storytelling is always to subvert expectations. So, we don't want to be too predictable, but we also don't want to not do things."

He finished his response by adding, "That being said, season 3 will just have to figure it out, and you'll watch it all play out." For now, comic book readers and viewers will have to wait and see whether or not the Marvel icon comes back.

As X-Men '97 is one of the most well-received properties for Marvel Studios, the mutants are getting ready to be reimagined in live-action. A reboot film is currently in the works for the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, with Thunderbolts*' Jake Schreier set to helm the movie.

While the live-action feature has not been given a release date yet, Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, shared with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley in July that he feels confident about the animated series existing at the same time as the MCU's new version. He said, "Yeah, I think the two things can definitely run simultaneously. Look how many Spider-Man things there are. There's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the Spider-Verse movies, the live-action movies, the preschool show. X-Men could definitely do the same thing. I'm not sure it has a preschool show, but certainly X-Men '97 can run simultaneously with live-action."

X-Men '97 season 2 is now streaming on Disney+.