A little over a year ago, the X-Men ’97 Season 1 finale was released to Disney+ subscription holders and left most of the show’s starring heroes stranded in either ancient Egypt or the year 3960 AD, depending on who we’re talking about. However, six months after the X-Men’s disappearance, Bishop informed the underrated Forge about what happened to them, and they’ll be putting their heads together to formulate a rescue plan. X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo has now revealed there was an alternate ending that involved Kitty Pryde and Colossus instead, though I’m glad the Bishop version was used instead.
How Kitty Pryde And Colossus Factored Into X-Men ’97 Season 1’s Alternate Ending
Taking to his X account, DeMayo, who was fired by Marvel shortly before X-Men ’97 Season 1 started airing, shared script pages showing how Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat, and Colossus filled Bishop’s role cluing in Forge on the X-Men being trapped in time. While sitting in Storm’s room one night, Forge hears the X-Mansion’s alarm goes off and then he suddenly finds himself phased into Jubilee’s room the next floor down. There he’s greeted by Shadowcat and her adorable “dog-sized” dragon Lockheed, with Kitty initially thinking that Forge is a bad guy who was trespassing.
Colossus then walks into the room, and he and Kitty tell Forge about this isn’t an issue of “where” the X-Men are, but “when.” This alternate ending concludes with Kitty suggesting that Forge build a time machine, setting the stage for X-Men ’97 Season 2, which will also follow Apocalypse in both ancient Egypt and the present day. Neither of these characters ends up appearing in X-Men ’97 Season 1, though Colossus did make guest appearance in its predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series. Shadowcat was left out of the original show entirely, with Jubilee instead filling the same kind of role Kitty did in her early comic book appearances.
Why I’m Glad X-Men ’97 Season 1’s Ending Used Bishop Instead
I would certainly like to see Kitty Pryde and Colossus appear in X-Men ’97 at some point, and if that can’t happen in Season 2, hopefully the writers can fit them into the confirmed Season 3. However, it was definitely the right call to have Bishop tell Forge what happened to the X-Men instead. Like Cable, Bishop is a time traveler from a dystopic future, so he’s more likely to know about where they ended up following the battle with Bastion instead of Kitty and Colossus. The dialogue is also a little clunky in these script pages, so it’s better off that this version of the scene wasn’t used.
For those keeping track, Cyclops and Jean Grey are stuck in 3960 AD; Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X and Magneto were sent to Ancient Egypt in 3,000 B.C., Wolverine, Storm and Morph’s whereabouts are unknown; and Jubilee and Sunspot are still in the present day with Forge. It was also teased in the Season 1 finale’s mid-credits scene that Gambit, who sacrificed his life during the Genosha tragedy, may be revived by Apocalypse. X-Men ’97 Season 2 will also introduce Neve Campbell’s Polaris.
Since the critically-acclaimed animated series won’t return until 2026, we’ll have to keep pondering how Forge and Bishop will go about rescuing the stranded X-Men. Beau DeMayo will find out how that happens with the rest of us, as the Season 2 scripts he drafted have reportedly been rewritten under the supervision of Matthew Chauncey, the Season 3 showrunner.
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