Marvel’s Phase 4 Unveils Yet Another Heart-Wrenching Exit, Echoing Past Tragedy

A Marvel Studios property just repeated a heartbreaking Phase 4 line for the death of another character in a completely different show.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 episode 5.

Marvel has repeated a devastating line from Phase 4 of the MCU for the death of a major character in X-Men ’97. For the most part, X-Men ’97 has proven to be a heartfelt, feel-good continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series. However, the ending of X-Men ’97 episode 5 was suitably tragic, focusing on the destruction of Genosha by the villainous Sentinels. This attack resulted in several major characters dying, setting up the rest of X-Men ’97 season 1’s story.

Amid the death and tragedy wrought by the destruction of Genosha, X-Men ’97 episode 5’s Easter eggs were prevalent. One such reference linked directly to the MCU, with eagle-eyed viewers spotting an X-Men ’97 cameo from The Watcher. While the show takes place in a different continuity from the core MCU, it is clear X-Men ’97 is not afraid to reference the other half of Marvel Studios’ universe. Another reference, albeit one less explicit, was hidden in X-Men ’97 episode 5, with Marvel reusing a heartbreaking line from the MCU’s Phase 4 for one another devastating death.

New episodes of X-Men ’97 release every Wednesday on Disney+.

Rogue’s Final Line To Gambit In X-Men ’97 Links To WandaVision

Wanda’s grief over Vision is paired with Rogue’s grief over Gambit.

At the end of X-Men ’97 episode 5, Gambit tragically sacrifices his life to save Genosha by killing the Wild Sentinel. Afterward, Rogue finds his lifeless body and grieves over his death. Her final words to Gambit, as well as the final words of X-Men ’97 episode 5, are “I can’t feel you.” This references a prior conversation they had in which Rogue stated she could not feel Gambit’s heart due to their inability to physically touch one another. At the end of X-Men ’97 episode 5, it references Gambit’s passing and that Rogue cannot feel anything from him anymore.

This perfectly mirrors the relationship between Wanda Maximoff and Vision shown in the MCU’s WandaVision. This show dealt with Wanda’s grief over Vision’s death, and culminated in a scene in which the former found the latter’s lifeless body, uttering the same words “I can’t feel you.” Like Rogue and Gambit, Wanda’s line referred to moments from Avengers: Infinity War where Wanda used her powers to feel Vision’s life force.

Could Scarlet Witch Play A Role In X-Men ’97?

Putting the connection between Rogue and Wanda aside, the question is raised whether Scarlet Witch could play a role in X-Men ’97. In Marvel Comics, the Scarlet Witch is a mutant herself and plays a role in some of the most iconic X-Men stories. The House of M is one such storyline, one that many have desired to see play out in the MCU.

However, the Scarlet Witch died in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, seemingly putting an end to her MCU journey. That said, Wanda could easily appear in X-Men ’97 given it takes place in an alternate reality. A different version of Wanda could be introduced, allowing a variant of the character to continue in the MCU multiverse while providing X-Men ’97 with the opportunity to tell some iconic X-Men stories.