Every era of X-Men animation has left one big comics story on the table, and for the 90s continuity that story has always been Onslaught. Now, with X-Men '97 Season 2 streaming, a theory is picking up steam that the show has been quietly assembling him this whole time.
The case, laid out by The Direct, points to threads the series has been weaving since Season 1: Magneto's EMP assault on the planet, the psychic collision between Xavier and Magneto in the finale, and several beats carried into the new premiere. None of it names the villain on screen, so keep the salt handy, but the ingredients are all sitting right there in the pantry.
A quick comics history lesson for the animation crowd. In 1993's Fatal Attractions crossover, Magneto tore the adamantium out of Wolverine, and a furious Professor X shut down his old friend's mind in response. The fallout arrived three years later: the darkest corners of both men's psyches had merged inside Xavier and grown into Onslaught, a psychic monster that took the X-Men, the Avengers, AND the Fantastic Four to stop. Marvel's heroes appeared to die doing it, which is how the whole Heroes Reborn era happened.
Here's what makes the theory land differently for those of us watching this as a cartoon story first: the original X-Men: The Animated Series was still on the air when Onslaught wrecked the comics line in 1996, and the show never went near him before wrapping in 1997. This continuity has now animated its own versions of the exact events that created him, right down to THE adamantium scene and Xavier wading into Magneto's broken mind. The one story the 90s cartoon never dared attempt is suddenly within reach of its revival.
There's a wrinkle, though, and it's a big one. Original showrunner Beau DeMayo has said publicly that Marvel scrapped his plans for an Onslaught and Age of Apocalypse arc after his exit. So the idea has already been on the table once, and the studio passed. Could the current team revive it anyway? Animation plans shift all the time, and the producers have been openly discussing Season 3 and 4, so the runway exists if they want it.
For now, Season 2's confirmed big bad remains Apocalypse, and everything Onslaught is strictly reading-the-tea-leaves territory. But if the show starts lingering on Xavier acting a little off, or replaying flashes of that finale mind-battle where none seem necessary, you'll know why the theory crowd is losing its collective mind.
Should the revival finally go where the original series never did, or is a villain who eats the whole Marvel Universe too big for this show's blend of Saturday-morning charm? Drop your take in the comments!
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