Spider-Man finally made his cameo in X-Men ’97. The web-slinger was seen in the latest episode of the X-Men revival, swinging through New York City, as Magneto’s global EMP shut down the power grids of the world, plunging humanity into the dark ages and depowering every Prime Sentinel in the world.
We know that the Spider-Man that exists in the X-Men ’97 universe is the one from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. This has a slew of interesting ramifications for his existence in the universe, since the last time we saw the character, he was hopping across the multiverse with Madame Web, looking for Mary Jane.
Does this mean Spider-Man found Mary Jane?
Mary Jane’s absence had taken a major toll on Peter Parker, but it did not stop him from being Spider-Man. However, Madame Web gave the character an opportunity to look for her, one that we can assume Peter took. Given that the show was canceled before it could complete this storyline, fans were left wondering if Spider-Man was able to find Mary Jane after all.
Given that the hop through the multiverse that Peter was on to search for her would have landed the character in a different dimension, the fact that he is back in his home timeline indicates that the character found Mary Jane after all.
With Magneto’s war against humanity raging after the events of Tolerance is Extinction Part 1, it is possible that we will see Peter Parker assist the X-Men in their war against humanity. This could also reveal what Spider-Man has been up to all this while, and whether he is still looking for his partner.
Spider-Man’s appearance has reignited hope for a continuation of Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Ever since X-Men ’97 was confirmed, fans have been clamoring for other animated Marvel series to be green-lit, especially Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which remains the quintessential version of the character for a slew of people. Much like X-Men: TAS, Spider-Man: The Animated Series adapted a slew of great Spider-Man stories and also became the inspiration for Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series has had crossovers with X-Men: The Animated Series. Spider-Man has assisted the mutants in their fight against the Sentinels and the anti-mutant agenda, while the mutants assisted Peter Parker with the disease that had been plaguing him. No doubt, the web-slinger will show up to help the mutants, along with other non-mutant heroes like Captain America and Black Panther, should the need arise.
The web-head making an appearance in X-Men ’97 has reignited hope for a revival of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which is colloquially dubbed as Spider-Man ’98, using the same naming convention used for the X-Men sequel series.
