X-Men ‘97 Season 1 Finale Gives a Subtle Nod to Chris Claremont With That Bishop-Forge Exchange in the End

The reveal has never been made in the comics, and was a first for the character in any medium.

X-Men ’97 had a lot of fun easter eggs that took fans by surprise, be it the reveal that Peter actually found MJ after the end of Spider-Man: The Animated Series or the various cameos from characters like Captain America, Daredevil, and Spider-Man. The finale of the show, also snuck in a few more hidden details, one that is directly connected to Chris Claremont’s run with the X-Men in the comics.

X-Men ’97‘s final episode saw the X-Men scattered across time, with Forge left to pick up the pieces of Magneto’s assault on humanity in the present day. However, the character is visited by his old friend (or rather old friend-to-be) Bishop, who drops a very important piece of information, that is absent even in the comics.

Bishop reveals Forge’s real name in Tolerance is Extinction Part 3

The setup that Forge has in the X-Mansion during the final episode of X-Men ’97 is similar to what we saw in X-Men: The Animated Series, precisely the location where Forge and Bishop operate to travel to the past. Bishop enters the location via time travel, addressing Forge as a friend. However, at this point in the timeline, Forge does not know Bishop yet and finds it difficult to trust him. Bishop immediately refers to Forge as ‘Daniel’, something that cements Bishop as an ally to Forge.

Daniel is indeed Forge’s first name, and it has never been revealed in the comics or any other media, until the final episode of X-Men ’97. When the character was first introduced during Chris Claremont’s run with the X-Men, Claremont envisioned the character’s name as Daniel Lone Eagle, as revealed by The Claremont Run. Chris Claremont never had the opportunity to introduce the true name of the character, which was in part revealed by Bishop in the season finale.

Forge seems to be eyeing a potential list of X-Men for Season 2

Six months after the disappearance of Asteroid M and the X-Men that were on board, Forge is still trying to figure out how to find them in a now-closed Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. On his wall of mutants, we see a lot of fan favorites like Magik, Emma Frost, Colossus, Iceman, and Shadowcat, all of whom have been integral parts of the X-Men team in its various incarnations.

While a few of these characters made an appearance this season, in the form of Morph’s various forms or as themselves (such as Emma Frost, who unlocked her secondary mutation this season), others like Havok are yet to make an appearance in the show. What the board also does is talk about a slew of characters and what their status is independent of the team that went missing with Asteroid M. Of note are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, both of whom are designated as being ‘off-world’ which opens up more questions than it answers.