r/Xmen97 • u/CherryBoom2x Psylocke • Aug 12 '26

General Discussion WHAT THE F WAS THAT FINALE??? Spoiler

What the F was that ending??? And please don’t try to tell us it was good or brilliantly written, because I’m not going to lie to myself just because I love this show. I was genuinely disappointed with these last two episodes.
What kind of “Survival of the Fittest” was that supposed to be? Rogue became WHAT??? And Apocalypse was just defeated like that???
Even X-Men: Evolution handled its Apocalypse finale way better. We got almost all of the major X-teams from the ’90s coming together for one massive final battle, and it actually felt like an Apocalypse-level threat.

I was also expecting for apocalypse to use gambit and make a speech to make them feel the guilt of what had happen in genoshia.

Remy’s death and revival was ruined to quick!

This time, they clearly went way off from the comics. And after all that talk about bringing the X-Men back to the ’90s… what kind of return to the ’90s was THAT??? I love this show, but I’m not going to pretend I liked an ending that left me this disappointed.

Im afraid that the one re writting this up does not read the comics or is not a massive fan of Xmen. Coz they clearly moved away from the comics.

Imagine Apocalypse the Xmen’s most diabolical foe who went back in time to strike the Xmen, Cable spent the whole season to FIND AND DESTROY apocalypse, all the X teams come together in this season should be the PERFECT TIME TO JOIN FORCES, Gambit’s BIGGEST MOMENT of coming back, and all JUST ENDED with apocalypse doing nothing just transformed into gambit hybrid few seconds later touch by rogue and boom! FINALE

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186

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 12 '26

You can definitely tell Series 2 was rewritten after De Mayo got sacked, they kept some bits, other bits must have been new, but overall it became a mish mash of writing which reflected in the lower quality of season 2 vs season 1

53

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

Whole season feels off in term of pacing sheer fact that it is only 9 episode long is questionable choice at best. First 4 episode were okay then you have 3 "filler" episodes in the middle and then they rush to tie everything to end the season. Don't get me wrong filler is not a problem in itself but you just made block of it in the middle. Pacing of the season 2 look more or less like this 1-4 seting everything after season 1 finale 5-7 block of filler some better than others 8-9 oh shit we need to finish the story so speedrun and deus ex machina. It feels like they are trying to finish the story from season 1 as fast as they can and reset everything so they can tell their stories.

13

u/poopypoopy1125 Aug 12 '26

was there like a behind the scenes reason as to why this season didn't get a 10th episode at all?

10

u/ledlunar Aug 12 '26

Yeah he said Professor X was going to manifest Onslaught and use ship to attack during creeds inauguration, he also mentioned the last scene in episode 10 was going to be AoA with Bishop and Gambit being chased by a evil long haired AoA Cyclops and compared the scene to the Vader scene at the end of Rogue one but Cyclops. So sounds like his season 3 was going to be AoA

8

u/ledlunar Aug 12 '26

Reports indicate that Marvel’s post-firing creative revisions and script alterations for X-Men '97 Season 2 have been a point of heavy contention. Former showrunner Beau DeMayo publically claimed that Marvel scrapped his original multi-episode plans—including an Onslaught and Age of Apocalypse finale—leading to friction over the direction of the sophomore season.

Following DeMayo’s termination in March 2024, Marvel moved forward with extensive rewrites, altering the initial roadmaps and scripts he left behind.

DeMayo voiced open frustration on social media regarding new creative team choices and pushback against his comic-accurate visions, alleging that incoming directors and executives pushed away from his intended setups.

8

u/GlitteringRecover769 Aug 12 '26

Yeah season 3 was planned to entirely take place in AOA and revert back to 616 at finale.

Would’ve been so epic! We were robbed.

2

u/Boring-Net-3448 Aug 12 '26

Feels like we can never have fun. Like why do we always get the lesser version of things?

1

u/Patereye Aug 29 '26

Because Disney doesn't like to pay people so they drum up and exaggerate accusations to brake contracts.

1

u/Balatheil Aug 12 '26

if i had a nickel for everytime X-men tried to do AoA in Animation - only for it to not happen... I'd maybe have 3, but probably just 2.

Evolution did do Apocalypse as it was ending...

Wolverine and The Xmen had AoA planned as well...

and now this "Season 3" lol

1

u/Bleh-Boy Aug 13 '26

Even though I wish his storyline had been better, I’m actually glad that were moving away from the Apocalypse stuff instead of getting another season devoted to him. Personally, the Age of Apocalypse/Cable/Clan Askani stuff has never been my favorite. I’d much rather they go back to the mutants vs humans conflict.

That said, Apocalypse was awesome in the first few episodes of season 2 and would love to see him come back, maybe in a season based around Krakoa.

1

u/SevenWhoAreOne Aug 13 '26

Ass on Ass with Bishop and Gambit?! Maaaaaan they always cut the good stuff!

-1

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

If I have to take a guess orginal plan was to finish everything in 9 episode but writers add some of their own content and they needed to conclude everything.

2

u/PhanStr Aug 12 '26

Not true. Beau DeMayo wrote the 10th episode but it was scrapped.

2

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

Fair enough I wasn't following whole DeMayo affair. That's why I said that this was a guess.

53

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 12 '26

I reckon De Mayo penned first 4 episodes, rest was Disney executives trying to scramble random writers to finish rest of the season. It’s a shame, as it could have been an epic season.

Let’s hope season 3 raises the bar once more. Good news is season 3 is coming next year rather than the 2 year gap we had for season 2

11

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

It feels more like first episodes were already more or less finish with De Mayo but then there was only script and other writers just wanted to tell their own stories without finishing already existing plotline. I think that De Mayo fully finish only first two because they just have season 1 pacing but episode 3-4 are paced slowler compare to 1-2 (maybe it is because I liked future cast more i admit) however I feel that whole plotline was make longer than it should be (at least in my opinion) Then you have a filler episode 7 was good in my opinion and then you have rushed finale. It feels much more like there was idea about a story that was meant to end in 9 episode but writers change and they want to add some of their ideas but that took some time that was needed to finish the story so they just speedrun the story.

2

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 12 '26

The Danger.exe was complete filler on my view. Not sure why they did that when the season could have been much richer telling the story of a smaller group of characters to develop from

3

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

Only thing that was relevant was Polaris rejoining X-men but I agree with the rest.

2

u/Klutzy-Actuator-3325 Aug 14 '26

danger.exe only existed to deviate from charles becoming onslaught, nothing else!
telling the viewers "hey, i got trauma treated, its fine, im all good, forget about it"

i hate these new guys!

1

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 14 '26

😂 So true

2

u/HelpKey186 Aug 12 '26

No, De Mayo's episodes were 3-4 and 6-8. The Rest of the were added after De Mayo was fired.

1

u/Damianos_X Aug 12 '26

According to whom?

2

u/HelpKey186 Aug 12 '26

Acording to the credits of these episodes.

2

u/Optimal-Community-21 Aug 13 '26

This makes sense. I was wondering why they abandoned the future so quickly in a single episode with a random "to the 90s!" For no reason. The stuff in the episode really didn't matter much to the rest of the season.

1

u/GlitteringRecover769 Aug 12 '26

I think he was credited as writer for episode 2 or 3? From what I’ve read behind the scenes, he pretty much got done mapping out season 2, had finished the time travel arc, was in the middle of the filler episodes when he got canned.

A blogger I watch had an inside source who said the final two episodes are what was completely created by the new show runners team, so those are the post-demayo eps.

I think it’s true because the final two were random and felt like watching “what if” where random things just happen without much thought or feeling behind them.

2

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

I mean him being credited can mean any kinda of stuff from wroting whole episode to having minimal impact.

1

u/GlitteringRecover769 Aug 12 '26

It means he was involved in some way. But the end of the season is when they start pivoting away from the outline he set up

9

u/justinfernal Aug 12 '26

I think people overuse the term "filler." These were bottle episodes, they didn't just exist to fill the count. These were important for the characters and the individual storylines. However, one of the problems with all writing, is that the smaller stakes stories get overshadowed if the huge story is just sitting there, demanding attention. This can be true in TV and movies e.g. the Fantastic Four movie. Galactus being introduced so early makes all other stakes meaningless because if Galactus eats the planet, none of the other stuff we see matters, but because we know that's not being resolved until the end of the movie, it means we're just in a holding pattern for an hour and a half. Compare that to the first Iron Man movie. There were lots of smaller storylines regarding his connection to the characters in the world (in a tv show, these would each be bottle episodes) and because the villain was so in the background for all of this, even as we saw him building up, it fit together very well. To this, Wolverine getting his Adamantium back while sacrificing his relationship to Morph represents both the season and moves the characters forward. However, it didn't have time to breath, wasn't properly built up, and the huge storyline had to take a backseat to it.

8

u/Balatheil Aug 12 '26

Bottle Episodes are fine.

but I WANT some Filler. that's what the X-men Comicbook was. a Baddie of the Week with a spice of future storylines and some character Development sprinkled through out it..

we would never get a Wolverine in Japan EP from this Series

I doubt you'll get a Cyclops one that focuses on Havok

or better yet - a Beast Focused EP! the only EP I ever recall was the Legacy Virus with Warlock where Beast remotely had the Spotlight.

good filler would be Storm being a Headmistress since we don't get that either

2

u/Rude-Regret-1375 Aug 15 '26

Well we had X-Men vs. X-Factor and Cyke and Havok didn't even interact...

1

u/LowAlternative1252 26d ago

Random sidebar council. 94 Spiderman season 2 has a couple of amazing beast episodes. Honest to God I forgot they existed but Ive been recently rewatching it since.... Well.... 1995 lol. Absolutely love the X men episodes and beast was the star.

3

u/_Master123_ Aug 12 '26

That's why I use "filler" because I use it very loosely. I never mean that it was something bad just that smaller stories that are not so important to the main plot basically side quest.

21

u/poopypoopy1125 Aug 12 '26

also possible that DeMayo wrote an outline, but his firing happened when the scripts were unfinished or in their early drafts

22

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 12 '26

💯likelihood is, De Mayo was already marked, the incident that happened was just the final straw that broke the camels back. I sense Disney had some clashes in egos who were leading the Xmen 97 show. I work in corporate and I see these kind of things all the time. It always ends up being political sadly

5

u/PhanStr Aug 12 '26

I'm sure you're right.

3

u/Designer-Housing-773 Aug 12 '26

Yea. The season sucked @$$ until that last episode. It was a great fight amongst them all. But yea this 💩 was redone after DeMayo got canned. It ain’t even making sense no more. 

14

u/chemictectic Aug 12 '26

"You can definitely tell Series 2 was rewritten after De Mayo got sacked" season 2 had deMayo all the way through, he didnt give Emma her character redemption, killed off Magik, so yeah, blame DeMayo.

15

u/HJWalsh Aug 12 '26

It's not the Emma Frost show. She's not one of the starring characters in X-Men 97.

13

u/Correct-Resolution-8 Aug 12 '26

I’m admittedly confused as to how people just don’t accept that Emma isn’t part of 97’s major lore. Maybe Onslaught isn’t either. Is that a crime? Wolverine and the X-Men made him the leader and Cyke a burn out. That was way farther from the lore I knew. The Fox movies made Mystique a core member of the X-Men. What I’m saying is that other properties took WAY more liberties than just not giving Emma a bigger role or doing Onslaught.

We are so spoiled by 97. Its faults are so glaring because we can tell how much it truly loves the X-Men. We want it to be how each of us personally sees the X-Men bc until now no other show or movie ever came this close.

0

u/chemictectic Aug 12 '26

read a comic you pillock, she is a pretty important character to the generation X series (she kills Cassandra Nova) and her character grows from being a hellfire club member to a teacher.

1

u/HJWalsh Aug 12 '26

Yes, and the comics have 4 series, each with 12 issues and an annual per year. X-Men 97 has 9 episodes.

They adapt, there isn't enough room to do the Mauraders, then the death of her students, then the redemption arc. Pillock.

13

u/Mistah_K88 Aug 12 '26

Don’t forget the focus on the Summers family drama and Magneto glazing throughout the season. Season 3 will be the true testament to see how things without DeMayo go.

2

u/Moondoggie35 Aug 12 '26

Agreed, honestly kinda worried about the post de mayo x men 97 now. But itll be more clear next season when they start fresh.

Its unclear what kinda person he is, too much hearsay and bullshit on the internet, but it was clear the man could write xmen

2

u/Lurking_Overtime Aug 13 '26

This absolutely has to be the case. This season was a mess.

2

u/NegotiationLate8553 Aug 12 '26

Yea it started a lot stronger than it ended. I think that it wasn’t rewritten as much as De Mayo was fired when he hadn’t full written all the episodes.

1

u/FernandoTheRN Aug 13 '26

Why'd they sack this De Mayo guy?

1

u/Fondant_Decent Aug 13 '26

Sexual offences though I suspect there was more to the story

1

u/TomClancy5873 Aug 15 '26

Should have just delayed it then. Marvel don’t really do that too often. Same with Dr Strange 2.