The X-Men '97 Trailer Reveals A Pregnancy - But Whose Baby Is It Really?
Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) riding Wolverine (Cal Dodd)? A big Spider-Man mistake in the paper? Erik Lensherr (Matthew Waterson) taking over Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted? There's a lot to feast on in the stunning first trailer for Marvel's animated "X-Men '97" series. One particularly interesting shot is a baby bump belonging to supremely talented telepath Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale). After a split-second appearance of hands over a stomach midway through, the full confirmation that Jean is pregnant is in the final frames, where, in a group shot, she can be seen holding her stomach while wearing a referee shirt.
While it feels safe to say that Scott Summers (Ray Chase) is the father (which will no doubt leave Logan to cry into a photo frame again), the more important matter is whether Jean is really the mother and which child it will be. For those who aren't up-to-date in the comics, the Summers family tree is a wild thing wrapped up in time travel, alternate realities, and clones (seriously). It begs the question of whether "X-Men '97" will take from the comics or make its own future through a visitor from the past (who is also from the future).
Is Cable the baby in the X-Men '97 trailer?
While he's yet to appear in the trailer or be confirmed to turn up on the new show, the original animated series does see the time-traveling mutant Cable (Lawrence Bayne) drop in to warn the X-Men about the arrival of Apocalypse (John Colicos). Cable's real name is Nathan Summers, and he's the son of Scott Summers, aka Cyclops (Norm Spencer), and Madelyne Pryor, Scott's first wife and the clone of Jean Grey (Catherine Disher). As far as we know, Jean is still Jean on the new show, but there might be a possible shock in store that could reveal that there may have been a clone swap during our time away from Cyclops and company and that that really is Madelyne. Then again, it would make a nice link to the previous series if X-Men lore were altered for the show and Jean did give birth to Nathan.
Alternatively, there's also the chance that, depending on the reality, Jean and Scott could be set to have another son, Nate Summers, a different version of Cable born within the Age of Apocalypse timeline in the comics. It's worth noting that the '90s series does include a run-in with Apocalypse, who is thankfully thwarted, but there's no reason that Nate Summers couldn't be a byproduct of their victory. It's all very confusing, but hopefully, we'll get some clarification on the matter when "X-Men '97" drops on Disney+ on March 20.