X-Men '97 May Have Just Teased a Major Marvel Villain's Debut

We're now halfway through the first season of X-Men '97, and the Marvel Animation series has been delivering plenty of twists and turns thus far. The series' fifth episode, which made its debut this week, took things to some especially shocking heights — and may have set the stage for a complicated villain in the process. Spoilers for X-Men '97 Episode 5, "Remember It", below! Only look if you want to know!

The last act of "Remember It" sees Genosha's gala attacked by a giant Sentinel, disrupting the island nation's plans to provide a safe haven for mutants. The ensuing fight proves to be lethal, appearing to kill Magneto, Gambit, and a number of other characters. While we do not learn who sent the "Godzilla Sentinel" to Genosha, its bug-like design does point to one character — Cassandra Nova. 

Who Is Marvel's Cassandra Nova?

Created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly in 2001's New X-Men #114, Cassandra Nova is the long-lost twin sister of Charles Xavier / Professor X. After the two fought each other while in their mother's womb, Cassandra was stillborn and survived for years, making it his mission to destroy everything in Charles' life. She has become one of the X-Men's more unique antagonists in the years since, and her most controversial moment in the comics is her massacring millions of mutants on Genosha, not unlike what happened in X-Men '97 Episode 5. 

While there certainly isn't confirmation at this point that Cassandra Nova is headed to X-Men '97, there definitely could be a fascinating narrative in store if she is. The "death" of Charles Xavier at the start of the series could lead to her targeting the X-Men and mutantkind writ large, and could set up an interesting conflict with Magneto in the process. The fact that she is expected to make her big-screen debut a few months later in Deadpool & Wolverine certainly doesn't hurt the theory either.

What Is X-Men '97 About?

Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.

The voice cast of X-Men '97 includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo served as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura, and the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.