What Is The Ship? Apocalypse's Secret Weapon In X-Men '97, Explained
Contains spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 4 — "Rise of Apocalypse – Part II"
"X-Men '97" Season 2 brings in new costumes and mutants, but there's also room for old acquaintances. Episode 4 brings back Ship (Rachel Kimsey), Apocalypse's (Ross Marquand) mighty but enslaved vessel from "X-Men: The Animated Series." Ship is one of the greatest tools in the villain's considerable arsenal, and "Rise of Apocalypse – Part II" is a handy explainer on their origin stories.
The episode depicts En Sabah Nur's (Adetokumboh M'Cormack) transformation into Apocalypse, courtesy of Eson the Celestial (Matthew Waterson, who also voices Magneto). The ship itself is also a creation of Marvel's Celestials, who rank among the most powerful species out there. Apart from its great power, Ship is a sentient thing that's nevertheless beholden to its owner's will — at least, to an extent.
There's a reason why the episode shows that Hank "Beast" McCoy (George Buza) is the one who quickly recognizes Ship for what it is. In "X-Men: The Animated Series," he's the X-Man who ends up befriending it, to the point that Ship eventually sides with him and his allies instead of blindly following Apocalypse's will. Ship opts to destroy itself in order to help the X-Men defeat Apocalypse in "The Animated Series" Season 3 episode "Obsession." Seeing this benevolent, tragic entity return on "X-Men '97" is a delight, even though what we see here is the beginning of its millennia-long service under a cruel master.
There's a reason Ship and Cable's computer share a voice actor
Fans who wonder why Ship and Cable's (Chris Potter) time travel computer are both voiced by Rachel Kimsey might be in for a surprise when we dig deeper into the lore. Although the show doesn't specifically point it out, these two machines are actually meant to be the same entity.
The Marvel Comics version of Ship goes through multiple identities over time. Its essence bonds with young Cable to save him from techno-organic virus. Combined with the surrounding chaos, this causes Ship to lose its identity and eventually adopt a new one known as Professor. In this capacity, it guides and supports Cable not unlike the computer we see on the show — though "X-Men '97" seems to remix Professor with elements of Belle, another AI assistant that plays a role in the untold truth of Cable.
It remains to be seen whether we'll ever see the "X-Men '97" version of Ship's most recent evolution: A humanoid form called Prosh. Then again, the animated Ship's stealthy arc is already pretty great. Not only does it suggest that Ship survives the events of "X-Men: the Animated Series," but that it gets to work with Cable — the man who's destined to defeat the villain who enslaved it for such a long time. As second acts go, that's not a bad one.