A wider Marvel universe is coming in X-Men ’97, with a Captain America cameo teased for an upcoming episode, but that could be a sign of a radically different, even cooler Cyclops.
The X-Men ’97 midseason teaser, posted on Marvel Studios’ Twitter, ends with a brief moment of Captain America’s shield landing in the snow, teasing an appearance from the Star-Spangled Avenger.
But if it’s against the darker backdrop of X-Men ’97 after the brutal destruction of Genosha in Episode 5, Captain America might not arrive on friendly terms. Modern X-Men stories have shown that Captain America and the Avengers have a strained relationship with the X-Men at best, with Cap and Cyclops clashing on several occasions.
This stems from the historical event “Avengers vs. X-Men”, where the Avengers tried to capture Hope Summers to prevent the Phoenix from possessing her and potentially destroying the Earth. The X-Men opposed this, but they believed Phoenix could breathe new life into the dying mutant race.
Cyclops showed he wasn’t afraid to stand up to the living legend Captain America.
Cyclops standing up to Captain America on the shores of Utopia is one of the definitive Cyclops moments of the past decade. It is also the first in a long series. Cyclops even humiliated Captain America in a live broadcast in one of his first major appearances as a mutant revolutionary.
While Cyclops and Captain America have had several tense encounters over the years, things have calmed down somewhat. They even acknowledged an almost grudging mutual respect. However, their passionate stances on human-mutant relations are not necessarily aligned, meaning the two are often on the brink of conflict.
If, after the destruction of Genosha, a UN-sanctioned mutant nation, Captain America and Cyclops come face to face, fans can certainly expect tensions to rise. Cyclops taking a more antagonistic stance when it comes to defending mutants — similar eras to his leadership of the Extinction Team — would also align with former showrunner Beau DeMayo’s statement about how the second half of Men ’97 would change the tone.
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X-Men ’97 Episode 5, “Remember It,” is now streaming on Disney+.
