X-Men '97 season 1 episode 2 ending explained: Did Storm lose her powers? Explored
The fan-favorite mutants finally marked their return as X-Men '97 premiered on Disney+ on March 20. The show follows the group of Cyclops, Wolverine, Bishop, Morph, Storm, Jean Grey, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, and Beast as they lead the late Charles Xavier's X-Men while trying to make the world a better place for mutant-kind.
X-Men '97 premiered with its first two episodes and in the final moments of the second installment, fans witness a shocking twist that may have just changed Storm's life forever. The weather-bending mutant faces a huge setback as she loses her powers. This will impact the X-Men greatly and put her in a difficult position in the future.
Storm loses her powers in X-Men '97 episode 2
Episode 2 of X-Men '97 is titled Mutant Liberation Begins and it features a massive twist as Storm ends up losing her powers. When Magneto stands before the United Nations to answer for his crimes against humanity, the meeting is interrupted by the Friends of Humanity as they seek to exact revenge on the mutant. They then attempt to fire a weapon at him and Storm gets shot as she tries to save Magneto.
She then tries to use her power but realizes that she can't control the weather anymore. It is then revealed that she has completely lost her powers. Beast confirms that Storm's loss of powers is permanent and that the weapon used by the Friends of Humanity employed "a concentrated dose of the same radiation" that power dampeners utilize to rid mutants of their powers temporarily.
This, of course, puts a huge strain on the group in X-Men '97 as Storm ends up leaving them, a decision that will certainly impact the team. It remains to be seen exactly where Storm will go from here considering she is one of the strongest mutants, and her not being a part of the X-Men is a massive loss to the team.
Cable is teased in X-Men '97 episode 2
Fans see Jean Grey give birth to her and Cyclops' kid. During Magneto's trial in the episode, Jean Grey goes into labor and is taken to the hospital by Wolverine, making this one of the highlights of the episode.
When Cyclops and Rogue finally make it to the hospital, Jean gives birth to a baby boy. Fans familiar with the X-Men lore will be able to recognize that this baby is none other than Nathan Summers, the mutant who specializes in time-traveling. Cable has previously appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, so it will be interesting to see how X-Men '97 sets the mutant up here.
Viewers also receive another twist involving Jean Grey at the end when after Storm's departure, they see her clone arrive at the X-Mansion as the X-Men look over to her in confusion and shock. This sets up the storyline surrounding Madelyn from the comics, who is Jean Grey's clone created by Mr. Sinister.
What's interesting about this is that in the comics, Nathan is the child of Madelyn and Cyclops, and thus the big reveal this season could be that the woman whom Cyclops thought was the mother of his child, isn't Jean at all but is her clone, Madelyn. However, it remains to be seen whether X-Men '97 will move forward with that twist or not.
The first two episodes of the show are currently streaming on Disney+.