During the early 2000s X-Men: Evolution reimagined the popular Marvel Comics team for a younger audience. The animated series ran for 52 episodes across four seasons and was the first introduction to Mutants for an entirely new generation of superhero fans. However, the series failed to bring to life one of the X-Men’s deadliest foes.
Despite its long run on air and interesting roster of X-Men characters, X-Men: Evolution could not introduce the terrifying Mr. Sinister, which would have preceded the character’s appearance in the more recent but retro-style animated X-Men ’97 series. Here is everything you need to know about plans for Mr. Sinister’s introduction in X-Men: Evolution and why it never materialized.
X-Men: Evolution Season 5 Almost Introduced Mr. Sinister Years Before X-Men ’97
X-Men: Evolution was created by Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir, and David Wise, and aired from 2000 to 2003. It follows a teenage version of the titular Mutant team under the tutelage of Charles Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine. The series also featured classic X-Men villains such as Magneto, Bolivar Trask, and Apocalypse.
In an interview, series producer Boyd Kirkland stated that there had been preliminary conversations to introduce Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister in a potential fifth season of the series. He said:
“I think his name came up a time or two, but we were concerned about getting too many big baddies going on at the same time.”
Kirkland explained that the creative team was focused on telling smaller and more character-driven stories for most of the seasons, with larger action-driven stories serving as the conclusion for a particular season. Therefore, Mister Sinister wasn’t introduced in earlier seasons.
“With the Apocalypse arc finished at the end of season four, we might have been able to bring him into the fifth season, but we never really had any serious discussions about it.”
Kirkland’s comments confirm that had X-Men: Evolution been renewed for a fifth season there could have been a more serious conversation about Mister Sinister appearing in the series. However, the series was canceled after four seasons as the network seemingly moved on to other projects.
X-Men ’97 Will Feature Mr. Sinister as a Major Threat to the Titular Team
Had Mr. Sinister been introduced in X-Men: Evolution, it would have preceded the character’s appearance in Marvel Studios’ X-Men ’97 by nearly 21 years. However, the character eventually did appear in the 2009 animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, which featured most of the same creative team as X-Men: Evolution.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sinister is set to be one of the main antagonists of the first season of X-Men ’97. During an interview with The Direct, series showrunner Beau DeMayo confirmed that Mr. Sinister would have a significant role in the first season.
“A very, very, very, very favorite character of mine and many others, Mr. Sinister, will rear his ugly head from the past with a pretty foolproof plan to destroy the X-Men once and for all.”
From DeMayo’s comments, it is safe to say that Mr. Sinister will be one of the main villains of X-Men ’97. The character’s presence was also teased at the end of the second episode before Mr. Sinister made his appearance in the show’s third episode. Hence, it will be interesting to see what trouble he cooks up for the X-Men.
X-Men: Evolution and X-Men ’97 are streaming on Disney+.
