Who Is X-Men '97's Mysterious Pharaoh? He's More Important Than You Think

Contains spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 3 — "Rise of Apocalypse Part I"

Season 1 of "X-Men '97" was full of X-Men characters we'd like to see more of and cameos from Marvel heroes like Spider-Man, and Season 2 is only continuing the trend. As the X-Men have been split up to battle Apocalypse (Ross Marquand) across time, several characters have been transported to Ancient Egypt — home of the future villain's younger self, En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M'Cormack). Of course, things only get more complicated with the arrival of a new villain: Rama-Tut (John de Lancie). But who is this mysterious pharaoh making trouble for our heroes? It's someone you might recognize.

First appearing in "Fantastic Four" #19, Rama-Tut was a foil of Marvel's First Family before it was revealed that he's been in the Marvel Universe far longer than anyone could have anticipated. As disclosed in "Avengers" #9 a year later, Rama-Tut was actually a time traveler later known by his more famous alias of Kang the Conqueror. Tut, known as Nathaniel Richards in the 30th century, had traveled back to Ancient Egypt to rule over the people with his technological advancements. It was during his time there that he sought to turn the future Apocalypse into his heir.

The comic series "Rise of Apocalypse" touches on this conflict between Rama-Tut and En Sabah Nur, as the latter blames the former for the death of his adoptive father and mentor Baal. Understanding Nur's "destiny" to become Apocalypse, one of the Marvel Universe's most notorious despots, Rama-Tut aims to use his almost god-like control over his body's molecular structure to his advantage in ruling the cosmos. Of course, this fails, and he eventually leaves the world of antiquity for the future.

Kang has re-entered the timestream in various forms over the years, taking on costumed supervillain (and sometimes superhero) identities such as Scarlet Centurion, Mister Gryphon, Iron Lad, and Immortus. Marvel Cinematic Universe enthusiasts will likely recall him as Victor Timely and He Who Remains. Kang's unique history is quite complicated, and all the different variants of the character have their distinct roles in Marvel history — including the Marvel Animated Universe.

Believe it or not, Rama-Tut has appeared in the MAU before, in "X-Men: The Animated Series," only he wasn't known as Rama-Tut back then. When the X-Men battle Apocalypse (James Blendick) in Season 4's "Beyond Good and Evil" four-parter, Bishop (Philip Akin) finds himself accompanied by an annoying "time janitor" named Bender (Stephen Ouimette), who eventually helps the X-Man discover the weakness in the villain's plan. After Apocalypse is defeated and Bishop and the X-Men return to their time, Bender shapeshifts into his true form as Immortus, laughs, and is never seen again — until now.

Because of Immortus, some have gone so far as to connect the "X-Men" revival series to the MCU, noting that this Kang variant could factor into the next big "Avengers" crossover. Since Kang has basically been written out of the franchise, that seems unlikely. But it's worth noting that a version of Kang (voiced by Ken Kramer) appeared in the MAU series "The Avengers: United They Stand." Whether these variants are all meant to be the same character is unclear, but it's a question we have no doubt that "X-Men '97" will answer.