Warning: This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 episode 9, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2.”

The upcoming finale of X-Men ’97 may see the X-Men team fail in their battle against the series’ biggest villain, according to a new MCU theory. As a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997, Marvel Studios Animation’s X-Men ’97 has pitted the X-Men team against some of Marvel’s most iconic villains. As well as featuring the likes of Mister Sinister, Mojo, the Adversary, Madelyne Pryor’s Goblin Queen and the Friends of Humanity, the series set up the terrifying human-Sentinel hybrid Bastion as the major villain for X-Men ’97’s epic three-part finale.

After being teased throughout X-Men ’97 season 1, episode 7, “Bright Eyes,” finally saw Bastion reveal himself and uncover his plans for Operation: Zero Tolerance. Bastion sought to use his cybernetically-enhanced Prime Sentinels to kick-start a 300-year-long Evolutionary War against mutants, which was detailed by the time traveler Cable in X-Men ’97 episode 8, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”. Magneto’s actions in X-Men ’97 episode 8 appear to have thrown a spanner in the works of Bastion’s plans, but one wild Marvel theory suggests that the X-Men team may not be so lucky in X-Men ’97’s highly-anticipated upcoming finale.

Polaris Appeared In Bastion’s Future In X-Men ’97 Episode 8

Cable’s vision of the future in X-Men ’97 episode 8 revealed that Bastion intended to create a human utopia in which mutants were enslaved, used as a workforce to implement and maintain humanity’s perfect world. This vision featured several mutants working under the supervision of Bastion’s Prime Sentinels, including Polaris, Magneto’s own daughter who has also mastered her magnetic abilities. Polaris can be seen manipulating the Earth’s magnetic fields in Cable’s vision, which has spurred a major theory that suggests the X-Men team may be destined to fail in X-Men ’97’s upcoming episode 10, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3.”

Bastion May Have Wanted The X-Men To Succeed (For Now)

One Reddit theory suggests that the X-Men have been playing into Bastion’s plan this entire time, despite Magneto’s electromagnetic pulse seemingly bringing his Prime Sentinel program to an end. The theory notes that Polaris may have been employed in the future to fix the damage done during Magneto’s electromagnetic pulse, suggesting this dramatic attack was always a part of Bastion’s plan. In fact, Bastion could use Magneto’s attack on the world’s electrical systems to receive even more funding for his retaliation against mutants, and make humanity comfortable with mutants being enslaved, as they’d only be fixing the devastation they caused.

During a recent exchange on social media, X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo revealed more details about the sheer scale of devastation caused by Magneto in episode 8. DeMayo noted that Magneto’s attack erased the world’s economic system, wiping out bank records, food transportation services, and even pacemakers. This level of devastation and death will surely incite terror regarding the end of the world as X-Men ’97’s citizens know it, which will perhaps prompt even more hatred and animosity toward mutants, making humanity much more pliable to Bastion’s nefarious plans, and potentially ensuring Bastion’s Evolutionary War actually does come to pass.

X-Men ’97 Episode 10 May Debut A Villain More Powerful Than Bastion

While this theory could turn out to be true, setting Bastion up to be an even more formidable villain in X-Men ’97’s upcoming finale, another huge Marvel Comics villain has been teased as X-Men ’97 season 1’s final foe. Magneto’s electromagnetic attack marked his transformation back into an enemy of the X-Men team, alongside new recruits Sunspot and Rogue, adapting the iconic moment from Marvel Comics’ Fatal Attractions event into the animated series. Notably, X-Men ’97 episode 9, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”, explored more aspects of this storyline, including Magneto brutally tearing the adamantium out of Wolverine’s body.

Following Magneto’s attack on Wolverine in Marvel Comics’ Fatal Attractions, Professor X invades the Master of Magnetism’s mind, leaving him comatose, but birthing a new adversary for the X-Men. The dark corners of both Professor X and Magneto’s minds combined to form the terrifying Onslaught, who poses a significant danger to the X-Men and the Earth as a whole. Onslaught has been set up perfectly to be the primary villain of X-Men ’97’s finale, perhaps usurping Bastion as the series’ most dangerous foe, though Onslaught’s emergence may also be a major cog in Bastion’s Evolutionary War dreams in X-Men ’97.