A broader Marvel Universe is coming to X-Men ’97, with a Captain America cameo teased for an upcoming episode, but it could be a sign of a radically different, even cooler Cyclops.
The mid-season teaser for X-Men ’97, posted on Marvel Studios’ Twitter, ends with a brief moment of Captain America‘s shield landing in the snow, teasing an appearance of the Star-Spangled Avenger.
But if it’s in the darker context of X-Men ’97 following Episode 5’s brutal destruction of Genosha, Captain America may not be showing up on friendly terms. Modern X-Men stories have shown Captain America and the Avengers having an at-best tense relationship with the X-Men, with Cap and Cyclops butting heads on a number of occasions.
It stems from the landmark event ‘Avengers vs. X-Men,’ in which the Avengers attempted to capture Hope Summers to prevent the Phoenix from possessing her and potentially destroying Earth. The X-Men opposed them, though, believing the Phoenix could breathe new life into the dying mutant race.
Cyclops standing up to Captain America on the beaches of Utopia is one of the definitive Cyclops moments of the past decade. It’s also the first of many. Cyclops even humiliated Captain America on a live broadcast in one of his first major appearances as a mutant revolutionary.
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While Cyclops and Captain America have had multiple tense encounters over the years, things have calmed down somewhat. They’ve even acknowledged almost begrudging respect for each other. However, their passionate stances on human and mutant relations aren’t necessarily aligned, meaning the two are often teetering on the brink of conflict.
If, in the wake of the destruction of Genosha, a UN-sanctioned mutant nation, Captain America and Cyclops are face-to-face, fans can definitely expect tensions to rise. Cyclops adopting a more antagonistic stance to defend mutants—akin to eras such as his leadership of the Extinction Team—would also line up with former showrunner Beau DeMayo’s statement on how the second half of X-Men ’97 would shift in tone.
The original X-Men: The Animated Series was no stranger to the broader Marvel Universe, with blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos from Spider-Man and a full episode dedicated to Wolverine and Captain America teaming up in World War II.
X-Men ’97 Episode 5, ‘Remember It,’ is airing now on Disney+.
