The eighth episode of X-Men 97 is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. Check out my spoiler-free review of X-Men 97 by heading over here.

Check out my breakdown of X-Men 97 Episodes 1 and 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6 and Episode 7 here.

The synopsis reads:

The upcoming animated series revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future. The voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler.

X-Men The Animated Series originally aired on Fox Kids for 76 episodes across five seasons from 1992 to 1997. The series is currently available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.

I’ll be discussing heavy spoilers so if you haven’t seen it or want to avoid spoilers, now’s your chance to stop reading.

Beast Mentions The “Mystics Of Kamar-Taj” And “Absolute Point”, A Reference To Marvel’s What If Series

The mystics of Kamar-Taj refer to the Ancient One and his/her/their disciples, the same location as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Meanwhile, Absolute Points were previously mentioned in Marvel’s What If Season 1 Episode 4.

Absolute Points are like fixed points in the timeline that would still happen no matter what else changes. This means that you can’t change it even with time travel. Beast describes it as “events that occur across all timelines”.

The World (And The X-Men) Learns That Professor X AKA Charles Xavier Is Alive

But the X-Men thinks this is a trick by Bastion.

William Stryker Appears On TV

In the comics, the Reverend William Stryker is a villain with a strong hatred for mutants and an enemy of the X-Men. He’s the leader of an anti-mutant para-military group called the Purifiers. He first appeared in the iconic 1982 story arc X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.

The character has appeared in the 20th Century Fox X-Men movie franchise, portrayed by Brian Cox in X2 (2003), Danny Huston in X-Men Origins Wolverine (2009), and Josh Helman in X-Men Days Of Future Past (2014) and X-Men Apocalypse (2016).

Valerie Cooper Is Working With Mister Sinister And Bastion

As a reminder, Valerie Cooper is a United Nations liaison for the mutants. Now we know that she’s a traitor.

Bastion’s Origin

The X-Men 97 version essentially has the same origin as the comic book version.

As I previously explained in my X-Men 97 Episode 7 breakdown article, in the comics, Bastion is a man named Sebastion Gilberti who had risen to power in a relatively short time in the U.S. Government and began assembling the international anti-mutant strike force Operation Zero Tolerance (OZT).

His origin is he is a fusion of Master Mold and Nimrod, which means that he’s essentially a sort of ‘human’ sentinel. He has the power of a sentinel and the power to turn humans into Prime Sentinels, which is what he does to Bolivar Trask in the previous episode of X-Men 97.

Other Marvel Villains Are Working Together With Bastion, Including Doctor Doom, Baron Zemo, Etc.

Goddamn, Doctor Doom is in on it too.

Baron Zemo too.

Where the hell are the Avengers and Fantastic Four? Now their absence is more keenly felt because their villains are now involved.

Bastion Is Building His Army Of Prime Sentinels

Operation Zero Tolerance commences.

Even Bastion’s mother is a Prime Sentinel!

Prime Sentinels, attack!

Sunspot Finally Shows His Full Form And Flight Powers

Nice to see his full powers.

Valerie Cooper Gets A Conscience And Lets Magneto Go, Magneto Then Unleases A Planet-Wide Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)

Uh, oh.

That’s the power of Magneto! He causes all the Prime Sentinels to shut down.

Several Cameos, Including Spider-Man!

Finally, Spider-Man!

And Silver Samurai, an enemy of Wolverine.

Omega Red wakes up (he was defeated and put into hibernation in the original X-Men The Animated Series).

Professor X AKA Charles Xavier Returns To Earth And Reveals To The X-Men That He’s Alive

In the nick of time, Professor X AKA Charles Xavier finally returns to Earth and calls out to his X-Men telepathically.

So, the first part of the X-Men 97 three-parter finale has now ended.

Only two more episodes remain in this season.

Until next week, excelsior, true believers!

Bonus: watch Nightcrawler show off his swashbuckling and teleporting skills below!