The rights surrounding the character have been a convoluted affair.

Fascinatingly, X-Men ’97 is not the first show with a rumored Spider-Man cameo this year. However, it is much more likely that Marvel’s Web-head would be able to make an appearance in the X-Men successor series given that Marvel might not have to jump hoops to bring him into X-Men ’97.

Marvel famously has to share its rights with Sony when it comes to Spider-Man, splitting his rights to appear in live-action films. There was a lot of anticipation about how the character might appear in Amamzon’s Invincible, but that was quickly sidestepped thanks to the hoops the show might have to go through to make that happen.

Spider-Man can make an appearance in X-Men without Marvel having to trouble Sony

While bringing Spider-Man over to any superhero live-action project is a litigation nightmare for Marvel, it seems that that is not the case for Marvel’s animated side of things. Spider-Man is a character that has already made an appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series, and is explicitly the version that existed in Spider-Man; The Animated Series.

Thanks to a deal that allows Sony to be more creative with the Spider-Man property, Marvel has acquired the rights to produce animated Spider-Man content that does not exceed 44 minutes, which could allow them to use the character in a weekly animated show like that of X-Men ’97.

This is the reason why Spider-Man is on its way to an animated series, Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, that is to be released later in the year. Marvel may revisit the story of Spider-Man from the animated series, given that it was left on a cliffhanger during its original run.

X-Men ’97 has already teased more cameos in its future

X-Men ’97, unlike the various iterations of the X-Men before it, shares the world with other heroes in the world. Characters from across the Marvel Universe have been able to make an appearance in the story, given that this is the continuation of the original animated series.

Characters like Ms. Marvel, Black Panther, and Spider-Man have appeared in these stories before, and the show under Beau DeMayo himself has confirmed that fans can expect more cameos from Hereoes going forward. This could include a slew of characters coming into play, those who have close relations to the X-Men, such as characters like Namor, Black Panther, and Puck.

X-Men ’97 is one of the few Marvel Universes where the slew of characters that exist in its comics can coexist. Before they start sharing the space in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the characters could come to head as the show marches towards a mutant war, given that next week the show kicks into its three-part finale, labeled Tolerance is Extinction Parts 1 through 3.