30 Year Old Comic Book Holds Clue To Magneto’s X-Men ’97 Fate
Magneto ended the latest episode of X-Men ’97 on a gruesome cliffhanger when he used his powers to violently rip the adamantium coating from Wolverine’s bones and out of his body. Professor X only had time to utter a single “No!” before the screen cut to black, leaving viewers in the literal dark until the season finale next week. Luckily, we have a pretty good idea about what happens next thanks to a 30-year-old comic book.
Taken From The Comics
The original incarnation of the ’90s X-Men animated series was famous for basing many of its story arcs directly on events from Marvel’s X-Men comic book. X-Men ’97 continued this tradition by stuffing its inaugural season full of truncated versions of several classic comic book plotlines. One such plotline, Fatal Attractions, was the basis for the latest episode, “Tolerance is Extinction-Part 2.”
Fatal Attractions
Fatal Attractions was a 1993 crossover between all of Marvel’s X-books at the time. The event revolves around the return of a presumed dead Magneto as he makes his final stand against humankind, much like he does in X-Men ’97. The Fatal Attractions storyline culminated in X-Men Vol. 2 #25 the very issue this newest episode was based on.
The final chapter of Fatal Attractions, like Episode 9 of X-Men ’97, sees Professor X lead a team of X-Men into space to confront Magneto in his space station lair. The mission devolves into violence in both the page and screen versions, ultimately leading to Magneto committing the horrific act detailed above. The comic book, however, continues where the episode of X-Men ’97 stops, giving us a clue as to what happens next.
Xavier Goes Dark
After seeing one of his X-Men lying mortally wounded at Magneto’s feet, Professor X makes the grim decision to go against his own moral code in order to stop his oldest friend once and for all. Charles Xavier, vowing that Wolverine will be Magneto’s last victim, uses his telepathic powers to erase his foe’s mind completely, leaving him in a catatonic state. When asked by Rogue what he did to Magneto, the professor responds, “I took away his greatest weapons…his hatred…his ego, his nightmares…I took them all… I took his mind away form him…God forgive me.”
Onslaught
If the animated series continues to follow the events of X-Men #25—and we have no reason to believe it won’t—expect to see Magneto suffer a similar fate in next week’s X-Men ’97 season finale. Professor X’s actions have long-running consequences in the Marvel Comics universe the biggest of which being the creation of Onslaught.
It turns out that while Professor X was mindwiping Magneto, the darkest part of his psyche escaped into the professor’s mind and merged with the worst parts of Xavier’s own mind. The result is Onslaught, a psionic being that manifests physically in the form of a hulking behemoth that resembles Magneto on steroids. Picture the Super Shredder from the end of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze with Magneto’s helmet and coloring, and that’s pretty much Onslaught.
We’ll Have To Wait And See
There’s a very good chance that should Magneto suffer the same fate in X-Men ’97 it will result in the same or similar consequences. Don’t be surprised if Onslaught is the main villain for X-Men ’97 season 2.
