X-Men 97 Finale Ending Explained: Why Apocalypse's Horsemen Tease Points to Gambit's Death and a Kang Crossover

Season one of X-Men 97 ends on a cliffhanger that teases a coming Apocalypse in more ways than one. The post-credit scene shows the Omega level mutant apocalypse appearing at the ruins of Genosha, the very spot where Gambit gave his life to Bastion's Sentinel attack that had already killed countless mutants, including Genosha's leader Sebastian Shaw and Jean Grey clone Madelyne Pryor.

Apocalypse's post-credit line teases Gambit's return as the Horseman Death

As apocalypse picks up one of the playing cards Gambit dropped at the moment of his death, he says, \"so much pain my children, so much death.\" Anyone unfamiliar with the comics might read that as apocalypse simply reflecting on the lives lost during Bastion's attack, but I think those last words of the season carry a double meaning. Apocalypse is not being generous. If he is going to raise someone from the dead, it is going to be for his own benefit, which is why I read this scene as a clear teaser for Gambit's return as Death, one of apocalypse's Four Horsemen.

In the comics, apocalypse recruits mutants to become an elite squad given the titles War, Famine, Pestilence and Death, a reference to the biblical Horsemen of Revelation (Marvel swaps Conquest for Pestilence). The roster keeps changing every time apocalypse makes a play, and the very first Four Horsemen were actually his own children with a woman named Genesis, with later versions being his attempts to find suitable replacements. Whenever apocalypse chooses a host, he overrides their autonomy and turns them into a puppet of the Horseman they are meant to represent.

Apocalypse saying \"so much death\" while holding Gambit's card lines up with Gambit becoming Death in the pages of X-Men 184. In the preceding issue, 183, Gambit actually chooses to join apocalypse's side to become that Horseman, which is different from how the show appears to be heading, with apocalypse essentially robbing a grave and reanimating Gambit's body for his own purposes rather than Gambit choosing it, which would also traumatize Rogue further. Earlier this season, Professor Xavier had a vision of Gambit looking like Death while still on the Shi'ar homeworld.

Who else could fill out Apocalypse's Four Horsemen in season two

If Gambit is set to become Death, the question is who fills the other slots. Since apocalypse is heading to Genosha to dig up bodies, I could see him shopping for other powerful dead mutants there too, specifically Sebastian Shaw and Madelyne Pryor. Given Shaw's power to absorb energy, I can see apocalypse making him the Horseman Famine, while Pryor's dark potential as the Goblin Queen and her connection to the Phoenix Force would fit her as the Horseman War.

Pestilence is still up in the air. The mutant Polaris made a cameo earlier in the season, and apocalypse has converted her into Pestilence before in the comics, so that could happen again in season two. I also feel Rogue herself could become Pestilence, partly because it would let her be physically together with Remy again without having to fight him, and partly because her power to make people sick just by touching them fits that role. A Rogue Pestilence would make sense to me.

Magneto stops Asteroid M from hitting Earth, but it gets flung through time instead

After Magneto wakes from Xavier's psychic attack, he uses his control over magnetism to stop Asteroid M from crashing into the planet, a motive I noted is extremely similar to Ultron's in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Instead of landing safely, the entire asteroid gets teleported through time, very likely because of the giant purple black hole generator Bastion was using to power his operation.

Dark matter and black holes are central to multiversal travel elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, similar to Loki's TVA, the super collider in Spider-Man's origin, and the black hole crossed by Doctor Strange and America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness. After the government bombs the asteroid, the power source seems to go haywire and sends the asteroid warping through time, with Bishop later telling a distraught Forge that some mysterious force seems to have wanted the X-Men lost in time in the first place.

The X-Men scatter across history, from ancient Egypt to the year 3960

Despite disappearing on the same asteroid, the mutants scatter throughout time. Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Xavier and Magneto land in Egypt in 3000 BC, where they accidentally rescue a young apocalypse. Jean and Scott land in the far future, in the year 3960 AD, where they meet up with the grown son they never got to raise, alongside a mysterious woman leading the clan cable is part of.

That giant dome hints Kang, as Rama-Tut, is central to season two

Season two of X-Men 97 appears heavily apocalypse focused, but apocalypse likely will not be the only villain. In the comics story Rise of Apocalypse, Kang is central to apocalypse's early days, as apocalypse eventually uses his mutant power to dethrone Kang's rule as the Egyptian pharaoh Rama-Tut, sending that conqueror fleeing back to the future.

The large dome the X-Men see at the very end of the episode is very likely built from the futuristic technology Rama-Tut brought from the 30th century. Its design resembles the circuit patterns on Kang's time chair and multiversal engine core from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and circular designs like this are often used in fiction to represent planetary objects or orbits, similar to star maps in Ahsoka and Disney's Treasure Planet.

The Kang tease suggests a crossover with the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe

Despite claims to the contrary, I think this Kang tease apparently hints that X-Men 97 is going to eventually cross over with the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe during the Multiverse Saga. The Multiverse is already in what I'd call a major pickle, because the exact thing the Illuminati feared in Multiverse of Madness, people staying in timelines where they do not belong, keeps happening: Gamora from an alternate timeline living in 616 with the Ravagers, the Clandestines settling on MCU Earth in Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi's mother leaving her home universe to have children with Wenwu, Spider-Man characters sent to the wrong universes because of Miles Morales and MCU Peter Parker, and the Watcher letting the What If season one Black Widow live in the wrong universe.

Combined with the Rama-Tut tease, I think this implies X-Men 97 is going to be wrapped up in that multiverse drama. The 90s Spider-Man who reappears in the finale with Mary Jane is reportedly rumored to play a role in the upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse film, which would make sense given how popular his portrayal helped make animated Spider-Man.

Jean and Scott may chase Kang from ancient Egypt into the 40th century

Kang originally comes from the year 3000 before heading back to ancient Egypt to pose as a pharaoh, but Jean and Scott arrive around a thousand years after that, in 3960 AD, during a period apocalypse now rules. There is a chance the X-Men, possibly with help from the Fantastic Four, chase Rama-Tut out of Egypt, and instead of landing back in the 30th century, he could accidentally end up in the 40th century, just as happens in the comics via a rogue time storm, the trip during which he first takes the name Kang the Conqueror.

Regardless of that specific path, it seems clear Marvel is going to let Jean and Scott finally raise a variant of their son Cable, since the adult Cable who said goodbye to them in the finale never actually grew up with them, only heard stories of their bravery. Because time travel works differently across the multiverse, Jean and Scott appear to have found an alternate Cable who grew up in their timeframe, echoing 1994's The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, a story season two feels very inspired by. In that story, Jean and Scott discover their son has joined the clan Askani, led by Mother Askani, herself a time-displaced variant of Rachel Summers from the Days of Future Past timeline. In the comics, it's Mother Askani who convinces Cyclops to bring Cable to the future instead of Bishop, raising him to one day destroy apocalypse. That suggests Jean and Scott's season two arc could involve fighting a future version of apocalypse in the 40th century, clearing the way for Rama-Tut to take over afterward.

Storm, Wolverine and Morph are still missing somewhere in time

Storm, Wolverine and Morph were still on Asteroid M when it teleported through time, with Morph last seen confessing feelings for Wolverine as he recovers from having his adamantium drained by Magneto. These three could be lost anywhere across the timeline, and I am curious to see where they end up in season two. For Wolverine specifically, I'd expect him to keep functioning without adamantium over his bones, likely going full feral as he does in the comics, since the adamantium inside him was apparently what kept him from evolving into a more animalistic state.

Where do you think Storm, Wolverine and Morph will land when season two picks up their thread?