That X-Men ‘97 season finale was quite the sucker punch for fans invested in Marvel Animation’s revived classic series coming into a modern era. We saw the X-Men overcome seemingly insurmountable odds against Bastion after the reveal that he was this season’s big bad—not the red herrings Magneto and Sinister (who still played a major villainous role in the finale). But it was the surprise during the end credits scene that revealed more end-of the-world sized threats were on the way—including a major villain.
In a new interview with , supervising producer and head director Jake Castorena, head of Marvel Animation Brad Winderbaum, and episodic director Emi Yonemura discussed the exciting X-Men ‘97 twist. “All roads eventually lead to Apocalypse,” Castorena told EW about bringing in the major X-Men foe into the fold. “I mean, how do they not? It’s either Apocalypse or Magneto or Sinister more often than not.
” It makes sense after having the X-Men appear in the past in Egypt to meet En Sabah Nur, who has been affected by the alien powers of his origin, to contrast that with him as Apocalypse in the present, post-Bastion battle. “It was always part of Beau [DeMayo]’s pitch to bring Apocalypse in at a certain point,” said Winderbaum, referring to . “Apocalypse was never really on the table for season one, but he was always top of mind as we thought about the future.
” Yonemura added that it’s a plan they’re still keeping in place. “I love it bec.