X-Men '97 Stealthily Brings Back Marvel's Kang With A Perfect Recasting
Contains spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 3 — "Rise of Apocalypse Part I"
"X-Men '97" is doing more than just reminding everyone how cool Marvel's favorite mutants can be. The show is also single-handedly reintroducing us to a character whose greatest onscreen claim to fame so far is being one of the most infamous dropped balls in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As "Rise of Apocalypse Part I" shows us, the big villain of the 3000 BCE "Rise of Apocalypse" arc is none other than Rama-Tut, voiced by Star Trek great John de Lancie. As comic fans are no doubt aware, this evil pharaoh is one of the many variants of Kang the Conqueror.
Once intended to be the MCU's Big Bad following Thanos (Josh Brolin), Kang was promptly relieved of those duties after Marvel Studios dropped actor Jonathan Majors, who had faced multiple allegations of abuse and was ultimately deemed guilty of third degree harassment and assault in December 2023. As such, Rama-Tut is decidedly not voiced by Majors, but as replacements go, it's hard to find anyone more perfect than de Lancie, whose defining role is Q in the Star Trek franchise. Since both Kang and Q are seemingly omnipotent, powerful, and charismatic menaces who can turn up just about anywhere, this is nothing short of chef's-kiss recasting.
Kang has actually showed up in X-Men: The Animated Series before
Aside from the fact that John de Lancie has the makings of a magnificent Rama-Tut, using this particular incarnation of Kang is a smart way to keep the villain active and out there without calling overt attention to him. After all, Rama-Tut has only been seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe during the Council of Kangs sequence of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which makes him a relatively fresh face.
Besides, there's precedent in animated "X-Men" shows for stealthy Kang appearances. During the "Beyond Good and Evil" four-part saga of "X-Men: The Animated Series" Season 4, Bishop's (Philip Akin) companion Bender (Stephen Oumiette) is ultimately revealed to be Immortus, another version of Kang who serves as the custodian of time.
Just how big a role "X-Men '97" is envisioning for Rama-Tut remains to be seen. Still, the fact that his presence here marks the second time that a Kang variant has gotten involved in an animated, Apocalypse-themed "X-Men" storyline hardly seems like a coincidence, does it?
"X-Men '97" is streaming on Disney+.