The villain who sent the Wild Sentinels to Genosha and killed X-Men ’97’s heroes may not be the most obvious choice (and that might be good).

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for X-Men ’97 episode 5

In the aftermath of X-Men ’97‘s stunning episode 5, in which both Magneto and Gambit were seemingly killed off, rumors of a huge Marvel villain appearance have hit the Internet. Now though, the head director of the incredible X-Men: The Animated Series revival show has debunked one of the biggest theories on who was behind the attack on Genosha.

Speaking to Inverse, X-Men ’97 head director Jake Castorena responded to the theory that Cassandra Nova will be revealed as the mastermind of the mutant terrorist attack that left several prominent mutants and Morlocks dead. And it sounds very much like Nova is off the table:

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up for Cassandra Nova being a huge villain in our show. But what I will say is, I don’t think people will be disappointed with our choices.”

The interesting point there, other than the change to Marvel lore – given that Cassandra Nova was behind the Wild Sentinel attack in the E Is For Extinction storyline that X-Men ’97 episode 5 drew heavily from – is that Castorena is setting up something bigger. The hints from the midseason X-Men ’97 trailer point to the return of Mr Sinister, and the brief cameo by Cable in episode 5 suggests Apocalypse as another compelling option. But for now, fans of Cassandra Nova will have to make do with her upcoming appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine.

What X-Men ’97’s Genosha Tragedy May Be Setting Up

Could There Be An Apocalypse War Coming?

So if it’s not Cassandra Nova, who was behind the Wild Sentinel attack on Genosha that left Magneto and Gambit dead? The smart money is on either Mr Sinister, after his presence was already felt in X-Men ’97‘s earlier episodes, or on Apocalypse, thanks to that link to Cable. The time-traveling hero has been a major presence in X-Men ’97, with the reveal of his love-triangle origin and his links to Apocaylpse in the comics and in X-Men: The Animated Series point to the irresistible potential of the iconic villain’s return.

While Sinister’s creation of the techno-organic virus removed Apocalypse from the formula, Cable’s storyline in The Animated Series sees him return to the past to stop the virus being eradicated for humanity and mutantkind’s sake. Adding that to Cable’s breathless warning in X-Men ’97 episode 5 of “he’s coming” to his mother feels very much linked to Apocalypse. If ’97 chooses to continue the Sinister storyline and link the two villains together once more, X-Men ’97 may be about to see a war between two of the X-Men’s greatest ever villains.

Former showrunner and head writer Beau DeMayo promised in the wake of episode 5’s release that what was coming in the final episodes was even bigger than the Genosha tragedy, and Apocalypse’s return after his defeat back in season 4 would fit that bill. A three-way war between mutants (with humanity in tow), Apocalypse, and Sinister would be “bigger” in every conceivable way.And if the price of that is not seeing Cassandra Nova, then it’s a reasonable one to pay.