The X-Men ’97 season finale made sure to set the stage for a fan-favorite mutant’s return in season 2.

Beau DeMayo’s X-Men ’97 has undoubtedly been quite an experience for fans. With 10 episodes released weekly on Disney+, the series kept Marvel fans around the world hooked to the screen. But as X-Men ’97 just dropped its season finale, we can all agree that the penultimate episode of the first season turned out to be easily the most shocking yet.

Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 3 was indeed a major episode for X-Men ’97, which exposed different arcs and twists that seemingly set the stage for season 2. Not only that, but the mid-credits scene from the finale even set up the return of Gambit in the upcoming installment, aligning with fan predictions.

X-Men ’97 Mid-Credits Scene Hints at Gambit’s Return

Releasing the finale on May 15, Marvel wrapped up the first season of X-Men ’97 in style. Setting up an exciting future for the revived mutant show adapted from 1997’s X-Men: The Animated Series, the action-packed finale Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 3, brought an end to Bastion’s Project Zero Tolerance storyline. However, in doing so, the show set the stage for an even bigger threat, the return of an X-Men supervillain, Apocalypse.

Just as Beau DeMayo had previously hinted, the finale was certainly not a happy ending. In an incredibly dark twist, X-Men ’97 saw the mutants being scattered throughout the past and future. Meanwhile, Charles Xavier and a few X-Men were spotted back in ancient Egypt, where Charles connected his mind with a beast named En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse. This particular scene set the stage for Apocalypse to play a major role in season 2.

En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse in X-Men ’97

With Apocalypse being in the scene, fans somewhat predicted the storyline that the show was trying to follow. This brings us to the incredibly important mid-credit scene that hinted at the resurrection of the fan-favorite character, Gambit. After meeting En Sabah Nur in his early days, the mid-credit scene flashed us back to present-day Genosha, where Apocalypse is revealed as he reflected on the wreckage. Therein, from the ash and dust, he lifted Gambit’s burnt-out card and smirked. Hint hint, Gambit is coming back.

The choice of words where Apocalypse addresses the deaths in Genosha is incredibly loaded, which strikingly hints at Gambit’s return as one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen – Death. Therefore, in a shocking twist of events, X-Men ’97 mid-credits revealed how Gambit will return in the second season. Mirroring the events in the comic books, the mutant is set to return as one of Apocalypse’s signature Four Horsemen.

Apocalypse holding Gambit’s card

Well, previously, after Gambit died in X-Men ’97 episode 5, fans had begun speculating that he would follow in his comic book footsteps. So here we go, Gambit will now rise from the dead in season 2, to become Death.