X-Men '97 Season 2 Premiere Easter Eggs: Every Callback in Days of Past Future

Apocalypse is back, and I think we're all about to start saying Magneto was wrong. Season 2 of X-Men '97 dropped its first three episodes on Disney Plus, and they're packed with Easter eggs, details and references to the original animated series. Here I'm going scene by scene through the premiere, Days of Past Future, for everything you missed and what it might mean for our favorite mutants.

The Recap and Title Card Put Gambit Front and Center

The premiere opens with a previously on from Jean covering the important moments of season 1. Nightcrawler tells Jean it doesn't matter that it was Madelyne Pryor who gave birth to baby Nathan and not her, since she has all the memories of it happening as if it happened to her. Then Cyclops and Jean say goodbye to Cable, adult Nathan, right before they go to take out Asteroid M and sacrifice themselves. Asteroid M is destroyed, and the X-Men nearby are pulled through time. One group lands in the future and meets Mother Askani and young Nathan, and another lands in the past and meets En Sabah Nur, the first mutant, who will go on to become Apocalypse.

The Marvel Animation title card flips through Storm flying from season 1 of '97, Spider-Man thwipping through, a character from the Eyes of Wakanda episode Legends and Lies, Zombie Scarlet Witch from What If and Marvel Zombies, and then the Gambit and Wolverine team-up from season 1 of '97, with a close-up of Gambit's face right before it cuts away. A lot of people have theorized that this whole season is leading up to Gambit being resurrected and turned into Apocalypse's Horseman Death, based on the post-credit scene at the end of season 1. I think they're definitely leaning into that theory here by focusing on Gambit.

The New Opening Focuses on the Team That Went to the Future

We get a new opening set to the same amazing theme song. The original was composed by Ron Wasserman, but it's updated here by the Newton Brothers, who reportedly created eight different versions. The planets sit behind the X just like last season, the Blackbird flies in, and so do Storm and Rogue. In the lineup, Cyclops fires his optic blasts, then it goes to Jean, then Storm, who has her original series hair back instead of last season's mohawk. In the original series, Wolverine came after Scott. Here he comes after Storm, in his '80s Uncanny X-Men yellow and brown outfit designed by John Byrne. Then Morph shifts from their human male form to their blank form.

We don't see Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Professor X, Bishop or Magneto. They were all featured at some point in the openings last season, but this one is focused just on the team that went to the future. Cable shoots up at Apocalypse, a shot from the original series season 4 episode 18, Beyond Good and Evil Part 1, when Cable and his son Tyler bust into Apocalypse's Lazarus Chamber to destroy it. That was a trap laid by Apocalypse to steal Cable's time travel tech, and the shot was also in last year's opening for the episode Remember It.

Bishop walks into the time portal with baby Nathan from last season's episode 3, Fire Made Flesh, as Madelyne turns away with tears in her eyes. Jean, Scott and Cable stay safe in Jean's psychic bubble as Scott's convertible crashes behind them, from season 1 episode 8, Tolerance Is Extinction Part 1, after Bastion's Prime Sentinels were activated. Then Magneto rips the adamantium from Wolverine's body in episode 9, Tolerance Is Extinction Part 2.

Much of the Opening Recreates the Original Series

Just like in the original, the X-Men fly in from the left in front of the X-Mansion: Storm, Wolverine, Morph, Scott, Bishop, Jean, Jubilee, Nightcrawler and Rogue. Scott blasts robots in the Danger Room, again just like the original opening. Storm flies in with her lightning before it cuts to her and Forge from Lifedeath. Morph is surrounded by a laughing Mr. Sinister, which we saw in last season's opening as well. Forge and Bishop stand in front of a tank with Wolverine's adamantium skeleton floating in it, from the original series episode 12, Days of Future Past Part 2. Cable and some rebels fight Apocalypse and his robots, from season 2 episode 7, Time Fugitives Part 1.

After Jean, Scott, Nightcrawler, Storm, Rogue and Morph are pulled through time, the heroes and villains run toward each other just like in the original. Magneto, Juggernaut, Emma Frost, Lady Deathstrike, Pyro, Mystique, Sabretooth and Avalanche come from the right, humans run from Sentinels in the middle, and Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Charles, Jubilee and Jean come from the left. Charles and Magneto use their powers, everyone crashes together, and the X-Men '97 logo comes up and electrifies.

Days of Past Future Turns the X-Men Into the Time Travelers

The title rearranges Days of Future Past, the arc from the original series season 1 episodes 11 and 12. In that story, Forge sent Bishop back in time to stop the assassination of then Senator Kelly. The world assumed Gambit was the assassin, but it was actually Mystique in disguise, working on Apocalypse's orders. Bishop stopped it but returned to find things were somehow even worse. This time, instead of a time traveler visiting the X-Men, the X-Men are the time travelers. The episode was written by Brian Ford Sullivan, who also wrote on Arrow, and directed by a storyboard artist on a bunch of animated projects who directs a lot of these episodes.

It opens in Forge's house, first seen last season in Lifedeath Part 1. Trish Tilby is on TV reporting for FC News with scars on her face from her transformation into a Prime Sentinel. It's crazy to me that she's still a reporter after signing up to be turned into a human Sentinel hybrid. I know they didn't really know what they were signing up for, but still. Trish says months have passed since the X-Men disappeared, and Bishop says that ever since, Forge's present has started to look more like Bishop's future. We saw that future in a few episodes of the original, always some different version of a dystopian nightmare.

Forge Builds the Tech That Will One Day Send Bishop Back

Bishop is voiced by Isaac Robinson-Smith, taking over from the original series actor; both are prolific voice actors. He and Forge work on a time portal, creating the wrist temporal receivers we saw in Days of Future Past, which stabilize a time traveler in time. Forge can invent anything he can imagine, and he's currently inventing the tech he'll one day use to send Bishop back in the first place. Forge is voiced by Gil Birmingham, who you'd recognize from a ton of stuff including the Twilight movies and Yellowstone. I know him from Veronica Mars and Buffy.

A board on the wall shows the two groups. Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Morph and Wolverine are in 3960 AD, the 40th century, in the Atlantic basin, apparently the height of Apocalypse's power. The Atlantic basin holds the Atlantic Ocean and covers a huge portion of the Earth. In 3000 BCE, in the Nile Delta in northern Egypt, which begins in Cairo, are Charles, Magneto, Beast, Nightcrawler and Rogue, at the dawn of Apocalypse's first reign. Bishop offers to go to the past so Forge can go to the future and reunite with Storm, who he got romantic with last season.

Wolverine's Bone Claws Hurt in the 40th Century

Forge arrives in a blue flash, and Apocalypse's cyber hounds fly in. They're the same ones from the original series episode Time Fugitives, which were modeled after Terminator's T-1000s. Bones of large sea creatures and dead coral reef lie everywhere, since this Atlantic basin has long since dried up. Forge is saved by Wolverine, voiced by Cal Dodd, same as the original. I love how Dodd puts the stink on tin cans just like he did whenever he referred to the Sentinels: "Got to get moving before another round of those tin cans gets a bead on our location."

Wolverine now has bone claws since Magneto ripped out his adamantium. When they extend, there's a ripping flesh sound instead of the clean metal shwing, he grimaces in pain while fighting, and at one point the claws actually break. Forge says, "To quote my dear friend, Oh my stars and garters," a frequent Beast saying. Storm is also voiced by the original actress, Alison Sealy-Smith.

Forge wants to get everyone back immediately, but Scott and Jean won't leave without Nathan, who they still haven't told is Scott and Madelyne's son. Since Jean has Madelyne's memories, she considers him her son too, and Scott blames himself for sending Nathan into this hellscape. Jean is voiced by Jennifer Hale, who's done a ton of voice acting for cartoons and games, including a few shows I've written on. Original Jean actress Catherine Disher was brought back to voice Val Cooper. Scott is voiced by Ray Chase; original actor Norm Spencer passed away in 2020. Scott and Jean wear their X-Factor costumes as they travel with Clan Askani, and they convince Forge to give them the day to say goodbye.

Apocalypse Wants Nathan as His Next Vessel

Outside Apocalypse's very Blade Runner looking citadel are a ton of dead humans and mutants, with more locked up awaiting their fate. In the original series, we saw Cable in 3999 AD in the four part Beyond Good and Evil arc, and this looks like the same pyramid citadel. So in under 40 years, if things stay on track, it should get destroyed by Cable. Ozymandias, voiced by Tony Amendola, has served Apocalypse for centuries, helping him recruit his Horsemen and find new vessels. He has a granite body, can animate stone and is immortal. He tells Apocalypse that if he takes over Nathan's body, he won't ever have to regenerate again.

In the original series, Apocalypse was voiced by John Colicos, who played Baltar in the original '70s Battlestar Galactica, and James Blendick took over in season 5 for The Fifth Horseman and Descent. Colicos passed away in 2000. Here Ross Marquand takes the role. He also voices Charles, whose original actor Cedric Smith is now 82 and I think mostly retired. In The Fifth Horseman, Jubilee was going to be Apocalypse's vessel, but after she escaped he used Fabian Cortez instead. That came after the powerful mutant psychics expelled Apocalypse in Axis of Time, and with his regeneration chamber destroyed thanks to Cable, he existed formless in a void.

The Final Horsemen Are New to the Animated Series

Apocalypse tasks his four Horsemen with bringing him Nathan. We didn't see these Horsemen in the original series, and this is awesome. They're known as the Final Horsemen, called upon only as a last resort when all else is lost. Ichisumi is Pestilence, a Japanese mutant who can unleash a horde of beetles stored in her own body. They're mentally linked to her, so when they're harmed she feels their pain. Decimus Furius is War, an ancient Roman mutant who looks like a bull and was worshipped as a minotaur god in his own time. He's extremely strong, can heal, and his axe can inflict blood loss.

Jeb Lee is Famine, an American Confederate soldier who dressed like a Union soldier to spy. Using his drum, he can transmit a bio auditory cancer that eats away at anyone who hears it. Sanjar Javeed is Death, an ancient Persian mutant who can inflict terminal illnesses on people.

Nathan's Room Holds Clues to His Past

Nathan's techno-organic virus is now contained mostly to his arm, and Jean helps him telepathically control it. The legend is he'll grow up to fight Apocalypse, which we saw in the original, but right now he sees himself as a sick kid constantly fighting through the pain, so he has a hard time buying the prophecies. Cyclops appeals to Mother Askani, and they talk about fate, hope and prophecies. Young Nathan is voiced by Michael Johnston and Mother Askani by Gates McFadden. Askani has telepathy and telekinesis.

In the corner of his room are the X blanket he was wrapped in as a baby and drawings: a woman with red hair who's presumably his mom, a tree with stars around it that could be the tree by the portal Bishop took him through, and what looks like the Blackbird. There's also a one eyed teddy bear that kind of looks like the one in his X-Mansion nursery that came to life when the Goblin Queen showed everyone their nightmares, although Bishop didn't seem to have it with him when he went through time. Mother Askani says Nathan will shatter the cradle of Apocalypse's power, and when Scott asks who she is, she avoids answering.

Morph doesn't have a ton to do other than toss a baseball around with Nathan. Morph is voiced by J.P. Karliak, and was voiced in the original by Ron Rubin, who now voices President Kelly, originally voiced by Len Carlson. Scott and Jean take off with Nathan, but the cyber hounds, Ozymandias and the Horsemen catch up, and they get taken.

Ship Returns, and Mother Askani Reveals Why the X-Men Traveled

Mother Askani says, "According to the prophecy, the one destined to destroy Apocalypse will rise from the cradle that birthed his power, an ancient craft that came from the stars, forged by beings some would call gods." She's talking about Apocalypse's ship. In the original series season 3 episode Obsession, Beast said something similar when he first encountered it. Ship is sentient and was booby-trapped by Apocalypse to try to kill the X-Men, hence Wolverine's tone when he says they've seen this bucket of junk before. Ship eventually helped the X-Men, sealed Apocalypse in an escape pod and shot him into space before crashing into the ocean. Ship and Hank had become friends, so he was very upset. It's never stated in the series, but the Celestials created Ship.

Apocalypse's slave train is bringing Jean, Scott and Nathan to Ship, and if it makes it inside the Citadel, the others won't be able to get in. Forge can slingshot them there, but it takes a lot of power, so Askani convinces Storm to harness a solar storm. Storm did this occasionally in the comics but never on the show, and Askani says that in her timeline she's seen her do it before. Askani reveals she sent the X-Men through time: the future team to train Nathan to destroy Apocalypse, the past team to try to thwart En Sabah Nur before he becomes Apocalypse. As she explains, an image of the Phoenix Force can be seen in her eyes.

Nathan Looks Distinctly Cable-Like in the Team-Up

On the train, Jean tries to get Nathan to guide the virus into his inhibitor collar to short it out, but he's too weak and starts spiraling, wondering why his parents didn't keep him if he's so special. Jean and Scott speak the words Madelyne spoke to him as a baby. He remembers, digs deep, shorts out the collar, then helps release his parents. They fight the Horsemen again, better prepared this time.

Then comes the team-up as the others arrive. Storm uses arctic winds to freeze Drummer Boy, and Morph turns into Thor and bashes him with the hammer, shattering the drum. Forge uses his guns, Wolverine his bone claws, Cyclops his optic blasts, and Nathan uses telekinesis on a cyber hound gun and starts blasting. Jean and Scott share a look because he's looking distinctly Cable-like. Before the train crashes near the Citadel, Ozymandias turns to sand and tells Apocalypse they need to flee. Angry that the X-Men always spoil his plans, Apocalypse decides to time travel and strike them at their most vulnerable, the 1990s.

The enslaved mutants come out, and it's implied Nathan will lead them and they'll become the rebels we saw him leading in the series. Ship, voiced by Rachel Kimsey, greets Nathan, and he links up with her, with swirling gold circles and tech designs nodding to her Celestial origins. In the original, adult Cable carried Ship on his arm computer for information and time travel. Ship upgrades his virus arm, and it cuts to adult Cable in the same pose. Cable is voiced by Chris Potter, who voiced Gambit in the original. Original Cable actor Lawrence Bayne voiced the Executioner in season 1 of '97 and voices War in the next episode. A lot of the original voice actors who are still around got new roles, which is awesome.

Cable's Wall Tracks Apocalypse, the Horsemen and Exodus

Cable's room is full of Easter eggs. A post-it reads Apocalypse sighted in Genosha, which might be what we saw in the season 1 post-credit scene when he picked up Gambit's playing card. There's an image of En Sabah Nur with a woman who appears to be worshipping him, a page reading located hideout with connected red circles, and a Polaroid of what appears to be Apocalypse in a brick building window dated 786, maybe a reference to a barber who does X-Men inspired haircuts and uses the hashtag 786X-Men. A heavily redacted page has a picture of Apocalypse, and the only words I made out were intelligent, highly dangerous and Horsemen follow. A notebook reads, "Apocalypse has many Lazarus chambers. They are the secret to his longevity. He uses them for hibernation every 100 years."

Last season a Polaroid corner held the clue that Bastion was the big bad. This time a partial Polaroid shows Kieros, as in Abraham Kieros, who Apocalypse turned into War in season 1 episode 10, Come the Apocalypse. Another reads Rolfson, for Autumn Rolfson, turned into Famine in that episode, and another reads Plague, the Morlock turned into Pestilence. Back then Warren Worthington the Third became Archangel, the Horseman Death, until Rogue drained him enough to snap him out of Apocalypse's control, and he became obsessed with killing Apocalypse. A clipping reading Paris shows Bennet du Paris, the mutant Exodus, seen briefly on Genosha before the massacre and in the season 2 trailer, so we know he's coming. In the comics, he was turned into War.

Another notebook covers the Horsemen, with an X in a circle section that probably covers X-Men in this era. Places and dates include 1996 South America, 1997 Ruins of Genosha, 1993 Stonehenge, Paris, FOH Headquarters and 1994 New York City, mostly where we saw Apocalypse in the original. In Come the Apocalypse, his secret headquarters were under Stonehenge. I think Cable is tracking everywhere Apocalypse went to create his Horsemen. It's revealed he's talking to Archangel and Psylocke, both used by Apocalypse: Archangel as Death, and Psylocke when Apocalypse kidnapped the mutant psychics to try to end existence itself.

Which of the Final Horsemen are you most curious to see more of?