X-Men ’97 is set up to be able to formally debut a character who has been teased for 31 years in the animated Marvel universe. With X-Men ’97 episode 10 ending season 1 and cementing the series’ success, the show looks as though it may run for a number of seasons, with X-Men ’97 season 3 having already been confirmed, and season 1 showrunner Beau LeMayo mentioning a five-season plan for X-Men ’97 had been in the works at some stages of development.

All of this is especially promising in terms of allowing X-Men ’97 to officially incorporate as much of the story and world shown in X-Men: The Animated Series without having to cram all of it within the space of one or two seasons. The longer prospective show running time also suggests the series can finally capitalize on one major character tease from the original installment that seemed intended to eventually introduce one missing character more than three decades ago in Marvel’s history in X-Men ’97 season 2 or later.

X-Men ’97 Can Make The Original Show’s Deadpool Teases A Reality

X-Men: The Animated Series teased Deadpool being a part of the animated universe three times in its entire run – once when Deadpool appeared vaguely during a scene showing Sabretooth’s memories, once when Morph turned into him when threatening Wolverine, and once when a warped version of Charles Xavier used an image of Deadpool against Wolverine. All of this quite intensely teases the show’s iteration of Deadpool’s backstory, but this is never directly addressed in the series, and indeed Wade Wilson himself is never directly shown.

This isn’t the show’s only loose thread still left dangling, but with Deadpool’s popularity only skyrocketing since the time of the initial show, actually introducing him for real in X-Men ’97 could be a ticket to bolstering the show’s hype even further while tying up one unused story feature via some satisfying payoff. Indeed, bringing Deadpool back after the events of X-Men ’97 season 1 would be ideal in a lot of ways.

Why Deadpool Could Be Perfect For X-Men ’97 Season 2 Or Later

While X-Men ’97 season 1 avoided using Deadpool, this doesn’t preclude him from ever appearing again for a number of reasons. Perhaps most crucially, the debut season of the revival was the stage that needed to be most tightly focused on the main hero team, as it had to establish to audiences what would be similar and what would be different about X-Men ’97 when compared to X-Men: The Animated Series. Given that the show still managed to fit several return appearances from people like Spider-Man and Captain America in, further extended cameos would make sense.

Secondly, X-Men: The Animated Series itself didn’t feature any Deadpool teases until into its fourth season, and even then only alluded to his presence lightly a few times when it did begin to reference the character. As such, it’d be fully following the original show to also not include Deadpool’s presence until later in the show – something that X-Men ’97 season 2 makes more possible via Forge’s plotline being set up to include him seemingly tracking down a vast range of mutants, or by Wolverine’s seeming disappearance, either of which could easily include the already established Deadpool himself.