Ahead of the release of the X-Men '97 Season 1 finale, creator Beau DeMayo has answered a series of questions on X / Twitter about the whereabouts of certain Marvel characters.
Warning! Spoilers for X-Men '97 Season 1 follow.
While Season 1 has included a number of eye-catching cameos, including Captain America, Spider-Man, and Doctor Doom, there are high-profile characters who are conspicuous by their absence.
For example, Deadpool, close friend of the X-Men and at times even a member of the team, does not appear in X-Men '97, even in cameo form. In a tweet, DeMayo replied to one user’s question about the character’s whereabouts with the cryptic response: "Yeah, he was off-limits.”
Yeah, he was off-limits
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) May 11, 2024
That’s all we have to go on, unfortunately, but we do have more of an insight in the whereabouts of The Avengers. Captain America makes a brief appearance in X-Men '97 during a scene in which Rogue throws his shield away (and potentially setting up an upcoming Avengers vs. X-Men storyline), but fans have wondered why the superhero team fail to step-in to help battle against the world-ending events of X-Men '97. After all, you’d imagine Iron Man and the others would want to lend a hand in the battle against Bastion, given the seriousness of the situation.
I wish I could’ve accounted for every mutant in the world but we had ten episodes.
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) May 11, 2024
In my mind, Sabertooth is lying low, enjoying the fact that the X-Men are too busy too worry about him as he tries to exploit what happened in Genosha for profit.
Of course, it was impossible for DeMayo to fit everyone in, but the former X-Men '97 showrunner and executive producer did suggest The Avengers are tied up dealing with the galactic war between the Kree and the Shi'ar, which in the animated series is the background to Professor X’s return to Earth. Operation Galactic Storm, as this storyline was known in the comics, appears to be happening off-world during the events of X-Men '97, according to DeMayo.
Yes, indeed. Some of the Avnegers are indeed off-world dealing with that conflict. Well done.
— Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) May 11, 2024
So why might Deadpool have been off-limits? Marvel may have wanted to save the Merc with the Mouth for Deadpool & Wolverine, which is the only MCU movie of 2024. But perhaps the more obvious answer is Deadpool might not have been a good fit for the X-Men '97 animated series, given Deadpool’s R-Rated nature.
While you wait for the X-Men '97 Season 1 finale, check out IGN’s article, X-Men '97 Sets Up Two Major Storylines for Season 2, to get an idea of what to expect in the future.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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