X-Men '97 Season 2 Pays Homage To A Heartbreaking Marvel Story

Contains spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 1 — "A Force to be Reckoned With"

They're uncanny, they're astonishing, and they're back -– "X-Men '97" Season 2 is here, and the acclaimed Disney+ series is more extraordinary than ever. In the two years since Season 1's mind-melting, time-bending finale, fans have anticipated the animated debuts of new mutants (and "The New Mutants") from the Marvel Comics Universe. When "X-Men '97" Season 1 confirmed new characters like Sunspot, X-Cutioner, and Maggott, it was clear that any Marvel mutant, no matter how obscure — sorry, Abscissa! –- could make the jump to the small screen.

"X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 2, "A Force to be Reckoned With," introduces enough new mutants including Quentin Quire (Thomas Dekker), Monet St. Croix (Miatta Ade Lebile), and Wing (Christopher Barger). Imprisoned "for their own safety" by X-Factor, they're rescued by former X-Man Jubilee (Holly Chou). In an explosive fight scene set to Veruca Salt's "Volcano Girls," Jubilee is nearly overwhelmed by security forces. Then, the sight of a small mutant girl hiding in fear re-ignites her fury –- and her fireworks.

With her distinct skull-like face and hauntingly big eyes, the mutant child Jubilee saves is more important than some may realize. Named Maggie, her cameo appearance in "X-Men '97" is pulled directly from one of the greatest Marvel comic books ever published, albeit one without an X in the title: the 1994 miniseries "Marvels" by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross.

This 1993-94 miniseries explores the first decades of the Marvel Universe, as seen through the camera lens of "everyman" reporter Phil Sheldon, who dubs the rising superheroes "Marvels." In "Marvels" #2, set in the 1960s, Sheldon discovers that his daughters are secretly harboring Maggie, a young mutant abandoned by her parents. Sheldon shelters her despite his own fears, but when mutant-hunting Sentinels attack New York City, Maggie runs away.

Neither Phil Sheldon nor the readers learn Maggie's fate until the 2008-10 sequel series "Marvels: Eye of the Camera" by Busiek and Jay Anacleto, and fortunately, it is a happy one. On his deathbed, Sheldon is visited by a now-adult Maggie, who escaped the anti-mutant bigotry of the U.S. and became a teacher in New Guinea. She thanks Sheldon for saving her life, and he passes away peacefully.

"X-Men '97" homages Maggie's first appearance in "Marvels," where she is seen fearfully huddling in the darkness. It's a heartbreaking image of innocence threatened by violence and bigotry, and her inclusion in "A Force to be Reckoned With" is more than just a neat Easter Egg for hardcore Marvel fans. Her presence exposes the moral rot behind X-Factor's mission and how unjustifiable it is for them to detain their fellow mutants. Fortunately, Jubilee is there to save the day – and Maggie, too.