Before X-Men '97 Season 2, Magneto's Most Dangerous Team Is Revealed

The world of X-Men '97 is about to meet one of the deadliest mutant teams of all time, and they already have an absolute powerhouse at the helm.

X-Men '97: Season Two #1 (by Steve Foxe, Salva Espín, Matt Milla, and VC's Joe Sabino) picks up in the aftermath of Season One of the hit animated series, with the vast majority of the eponymous mutant heroes scattered across time. As such, another team of mutant heroes has stepped up to fill in for them, although X-Factor isn't nearly prepared for things to come. While taking down the likes of Avalanche and Pyro is easy enough, they don't even come close to the threat of Exodus, especially not when he is on the hunt for more Acolytes to call his own.

X-Men '97: Season Two #1

• Written by STEVE FOXE
• Art by SALVA ESPÍN
• Colors by MATT MILLA
• Letters by VC's JOE SABINO
• Design by JAY BOWEN & ADAM DEL RE
• Main cover art by TODD NAUCK & RACHELLE ROSENBERG
• Variant covers by NATACHA BUSTOS; JHONY CABALLERO; DAN JURGENS; BRETT BREEDING & ALEX SINCLAIR; DIEGO DE ROSE, PAUL HARMON, SYLVIA FILCAK-BLACKWOLF & KHANG LE; and TODD NAUCK & RACHELLE ROSENBERG

The official solicit synopsis for X-Men '97: Season Two #1 from Marvel Comics reads, "Extinction-day has come and gone, and your favorite X-Men are lost in time! Spinning out of the X-Men '97 hit TV series, we follow the X-Men left behind in a world that hunts and hates mutantkind! Can they survive? And just where — or when — are the X-Men now?! Leading directly from the end of season one to the start of the upcoming Season 2, no X-Men '97 fan can miss this one!"

What To Look Forward To In X-Men '97 Season Two

Fans got their first look at Exodus in Season 2 of X-Men '97, courtesy of a short teaser trailer which saw Nightcrawler facing off against the iconic villain. Introduced in the pages of 1993's X-Factor #92 by Scott Lobdell, Joe Quesada, and J.M. DeMatteis, the mutant powerhouse known as Exodus was born Bennet du Paris in the 12th Century, during which time he served as a Crusader for the Knights Templar.

After a series of encounters with the likes of the Phoenix Force and Apocalypse, Bennet was transformed into the Omega-level Exodus to serve as En Sabah Nur's right hand. When Exodus refused to kill the Black Knight in Apocalypse's name, he was stripped of his powers and sealed away for centuries, only to be unearthed in the modern day by none other than Magneto.

In the years that followed his return, Exodus served dutifully as one of Magneto's Acolytes, frequently serving as a field leader for the band of mutant villains in Magneto's absence. Of course, Exodus' story was never going to be so simple as to turn him into a one or two-dimensional villain, with the once abjectly terrifying mutant gradually becoming one of the most complex and carefully considerate figures in the entire Marvel Universe.

X-Men '97: Season Two #1 from Marvel Comics is on sale now. X-Men '97 Season Two premieres on Disney+ on July 1.