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Ron and Mon: “To me, my X-Men!” 

Mon: Hello and welcome to a bonus episode of Stereo Geeks, a bi-weekly pop culture podcast, and weekly newsletter. Today, we’re previewing the first four episodes of X-Men '97 Season 2. I’m one of your hosts, Mon, an entertainment writer with bylines in Bam Smack Pow and Huffpost, to name a few.

Ron: And I’m Ron, your other host, a pop culture critic and managing editor at Women Write About Comics, now on hiatus. This is a non-spoiler episode as X-Men '97 Season 2 premieres on July 1, 2026 on Disney+.

Mon: Before we start our episode, we would like to acknowledge that the land we are recording on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Ron: While we are making this land acknowledgement, we understand that this is not enough and that positive action is required by the people of Canada to make substantive change for the Indigenous nations and communities whose lands we now reside on.

[Music]

Mon: Before we dive in, listen to our review of X-Men ‘97 Season 1 for a recap of important events. 

Mon: Long story short, when we last saw our beloved X-Men, they were scattered across the timeline. One bunch was in the distant past…

Ron: Ancient Egypt to be precise.

Mon: Why, thank you. The others were in the distant future. And the remaining were still in the 1990s.

Ron: 1997 to be precise.

Mon: Hence the name of the show. 

Ron: Also, Gambit died.

Mon: Yeah. Still not over that.

Ron: Me neither. Gambit is the kind of character that so many of us love. I think the ‘97 version of Gambit might be my favourite. Even the comics don’t do him justice, at times. It does help that Rogue and Gambit’s love story is so tragic, yet beautiful.

Mon: Speaking of love stories. Jubilee and Sunspot are a thing.

Ron: Not a combo we saw coming. But it does work in this show. It’s cute.

Mon: Morph professed their love for Wolvie.

Ron: Indeed, they did. It’s probably one of the most romantic scenes from the first season, and that’s saying something, considering there was plenty of romance. I did feel like Morph got short shrift throughout Season 1. They were there, but almost always on the sidelines. Now that they’ve embraced their non-binary identity, and returned from being evil, Morph deserves more screentime.

Mon: Yes. And some on-screen characterization. Lest we forget, Maggie – I mean, Magneto – ripped Wolvie’s adamantium out of his body in a classic throwback to the comics. 

Ron: Was that painful to watch, or what? Poor Wolverine. As much as we agree with Magneto, the man is brutal.

Mon: So true. Did Professor X do a runner again? Back to Lilandra?

Ron: No, he learned that Gambit had died and returned to Earth. And then all hell broke loose and Magneto made off with half the X-Men.

Mon: Ah yes! Thank you for the reminder. And now they’re stuck elsewhere in the timeline. 

Ron: Yes. And while the immediate threat of Season 1 has been dispensed with – that was the humanoid-Sentinel hybrid Bastion – an even greater threat looms. One that is very familiar to X-Men fans. 

Mon: Apocalypse!

Ron: A lot is happening in X-Men '97 Season 2! It’s packed full of characters, many returning from the first season, of course. But we’ve also got characters we haven’t spent much time with in the 97 or 92 shows. As usual, you and I went in without watching a single trailer. We’ve trained ourselves very well to avoid any pictures or videos from shows we want to watch.

Mon: Yes, we’re very good at that. That lack of knowledge genuinely adds to the surprise and enjoyment of what we watch. 

Mon: Now, it’s very obvious there’s a lot of story to cover in Season 2. I’d argue, probably too much. 

Ron: The Apocalypse stories are massive. We haven’t read all of them, but the first comic outing for Apocalypse was a multi-issue run. I don’t know how they’re going to compress all that into one season. Especially since the Disney+ shows are just nine episodes.

Mon: Add to that, Apocalypse’s stories span timelines – generations of characters have to deal with him. It’s a lot to bake into 9 short episodes. And yet they try. 

Ron: It does feel a bit like we’re speeding through stories in X-Men '97 Season 2.

Mon: Hurtling is the word I’d use.

Ron: That’s a good word for it. I understand the need to race through it. Lots to cover, not much time, and as long as you get the gist of it, the audience will be fine. It also gives viewers a good reason to go back to the comics and get the full story there.

Mon: Yes, but, this is the X-Men. We freaking love the X-Men. We want to spend alllllll the time in the world with them. I’d rather have 95 seasons of 9 episodes covering just the fight against Apocalypse, if it would mean slowing things down so we can spend time with our favourite franchise. 

Ron: Can’t disagree there. When Disney sent us the screeners, I thought to myself, how can we eke this out? Because I want to spend quality time with the X-Men. I want to watch these episodes slowly. I want them to be longer. I want more of them. But the current entertainment industry only believes in short seasons. So yes, there’s a ton of story and so many characters, but I’m already wanting so much more after these four episodes.

Mon: Me too. And here’s the thing. We want more because this is so good. X-Men ‘97 Season 2 is what you’d expect from a sequel. It’s bigger, badder, scarier. It’s amazing!

Ron: I was applauding after each episode. And getting emotional! This is stellar writing, in terms of plots and characters.

Mon: Which brings us to what viewers can expect from X-Men ‘97 Season 2. 

Ron: I know we can’t give any spoilers so we won’t say much but, expect things to go big. You know how they say sequels have to be bigger and bolder? X-Men '97 Season 2 takes that literally. This story is huge; literally spanning multiple timelines. So many characters and their interweaving dynamics. And the darkness; “Remember It” was just a precursor.

Mon: We get so many more characters from the comics. And, from the looks of it, they won’t necessarily turn up just for an episode. 

Ron: I do like that. The universe of the show has expanded a great deal. Fans of Marvel comics are going to be very excited when they see some of the cameos and recurring characters. But what I’ve liked so far is that the good guys and bad guys aren’t that easy to tell apart. I mean, we were agreeing with Magneto in the first season, and this time around, the grey areas are increasing.

Mon: Exactly. We aren’t just following the X-Men any more. Because what is the X-Men now that they’re strewn across the timeline? It means different personalities and attitudes. We may not agree with a lot of people. Even if they’re our heroes. 

Ron: Yes. There are moral quandaries aplenty here. But honestly, we just want to see more mutants!

Mon: Yes, but one thing to keep in mind – a larger cast means some people won’t get as much screentime as before. The spotlight is shining elsewhere. I kinda like that. There were fair criticisms that Season 1 was sidelining the characters of colour. 

Ron: That’s a good point. The thing with the X-Men is that we all have our favourites. When there are so many, some will get more of the spotlight than others.

Mon: My heart always aches when we leave my favourites. It’s always going to be an issue. I’m very attached. 

Ron: Having said that, a good story will make you love any character. I was ambivalent towards Jubilee, but now I really quite love her.

Mon: Oh absolutely. I can’t complain, at least my favourite’s still alive. For now, anyway. 

Ron: We will forever mourn our Gambit.

Mon: We will. But give me more characters, any day. 

Mon: The vibe so far is very different. This season has a through-line, but the storytelling is much more episodic. Almost like the ‘92 show. 

Ron: There’s a particular dialogue that’s included in the recap for the first season that I feel will be at the heart of X-Men '97 Season 2.

Mon: There’s also a larger focus on plot and story. It’s not necessarily at the cost of the human and emotional angles, but those have taken a backseat to the story. 

Mon: The first season focused a lot on the feeling of disparity and discrimination – it’s the basis for the X-Men, and the reason so many of us love them. 

Ron: I suspect the moral dilemmas of the first season will continue here, as well. The discord between humanity and mutantkind hasn’t gone away. As we’ve seen in the comics, mutants are constantly fighting for survival, to just exist. And humans will not let them be. That played a huge part in season one. I fear those concerns will not go away for our dear mutants.

Mon: Season 2 uses that as a foundation for its storytelling, but so far, that dichotomy of being a mutant and surviving while also trying to save humans has not been at the core of the story. 

Ron: How do you feel about that?

Mon: Well, the X-Men aren’t a one-trick pony. They carry multitudes. The OG series captured the prejudice of being an “other” while still telling us the comic book stories. Season 2 straddles the line of the past and the present well, I think.

Ron: We’ve only really got a taste of what’s going to happen this season. I’m not sure what we can expect from the remaining episodes. It’s going to be a lot; and it’s going to be emotional.

Mon: Comic book fans will be mapping out all the possible story arcs, and yet we’ll be surprised by the creators. But, at the end of the day, as long as X-Men '97 Season 2 ensures these characters are human and real and make us all cry for them, we’ll be in for a fine ride. 

Ron: I agree. And that’s it for this bonus episode of Stereo Geeks. I hope you enjoyed our preview of X-Men '97 Season 2.

Mon: Join us next week for our review of the new Masters of the Universe film.

Ron: You can listen to Stereo Geeks on stereogeeks.ca, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to rate us, and leave us a review; it helps other listeners find us.

Mon: And, get more exclusive content when you subscribe to our newsletter on our website, and follow us on Instagram, @stereogeeks_podcast. Plus, we’re also on BlueSky, @stereogeekspodcast.bsky.social. 

Ron: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. Our music is courtesy Audionautix. 

Mon: See you next time.