X-Men 97 is planned to continue directly from where the 90s series finished, with Professor X leaving to be healed by the Shi’ar Empire and Magneto assuming a lead role within the X-Men to respect the wishes of his best friend. However, given Magneto’s antagonism towards the X-men, it is likely that he will not befriend the team for very long. The show is planned for a summer 2023 release on Disney+ with an episode count of around ten episodes, exploring the aftermath of the animated series.
Picking up where X-Men: The Animated Series left off suggests that X-Men 97 will focus on the war between humans and mutant-kind after Henry Girich unveiled Professor X as being a mutant to the world. This war was to be led by Magneto, with the support of the mutants of Genosha (a haven Magneto created for all obvious-looking Mutants). However, the attack on Charles Xavier was more deadly than expected and Magneto dropped his long-term goal to be at the side of his life-long friend, in the hope of finding him support. This support came in the form of the Shi’ar Empire – a group of highly advanced aliens, who had previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series and their leader had fallen in love with Professor X. With Charles Xaiver leaving with the Shi’ar to heal his body and mind, his X-Men have been left leaderless and Magneto’s support was subtly hinted in the Professor’s final goodbyes to his friends.
Magneto is unlikely to lead the X-Men for long, however. With a global war taking place against mutant-kind and many mutants seeking Magneto as their wartime leader, the X-Men will not support their actions and follow Professor X’s teachings, showing humans that they are not here to defeat them but to live in harmony. There will probably be a high level of friction between Magneto, recently taking on a leadership position, and Cyclops, who follows Professor X’s teachings to the letter. This friction could lead to Magneto leaving the X-Men early on to return to his villainous pursuits.
There have been many other X-Men stories that have shown different futures for these popular characters, from movies to comics. There have been entire comic series dedicated to Magneto’s leadership of the team, most notably the larger crossover event of Avengers vs X-Men. In each of these variations, Magneto and Cyclops appear to come to blows around the goals of their leadership. It is important to note that Magneto has not always been in the wrong during these debates; however, in the case of X-Men 97, it appears that Magneto is set within his mutant take-over perspective and will likely fall back upon these goals early in the new season.
Being the most famous and notable antagonist for the X-Men, Magneto is a villain at heart. His leadership of the X-Men will likely be short-lived, due to frictions in the team, global events, and other mutant expectations. An interesting twist will be when or if Professor X returns to X-Men 97 and the potential disappointment he and Magneto might feel to one another – once again igniting a feud between these two leaders.
