In the most recent episode of X-Men ’97, “Bright Eyes,” we finally met this season’s villain: Bastion, voiced by actor Theo James. Except, as it turns out, Bastion has secretly been in nearly every episode of the show this season so far.
That little tidbit was revealed by X-Men ’97‘s former showrunner Beau DeMayo (he was fired for unspecified reasons by Marvel before the season began) on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Bastion has been manipulating things all along, and thus has been in every episode except for Ep. 3. Can you find him?” said DeMayo.
DeMayo later clarified that Bastion was also not in Episode 6… And of course, he’s in Episode 7, where he’s fully revealed by the end of the hour. Naturally, though, that led to a flurry of posts trying to pinpoint where, exactly Bastion had shown up previously. To take a little bit of the treasure hunt off your hands, read on to find out exactly where and how to see Bastion in every episode of X-Men ’97, so far.
Episode 1, “To Me, My X-Men“
Bastion Appears: 18:41
This is the trickiest one to find, but several internet sleuths did figure out the Bastion appearance here — one that might have ramifications for future episodes. It takes place during who we think is Jean Grey but is actually Madelyn Pryor’s vision in the episode. In it, Madelyn is scanning the mind of Henry Gyrich with Cerebro — only to discover that someone else is in there with him. We see a child drawing Xavier’s school on fire with a purple crayon. And as we all know, Bastion loves the color purple. Not the movie. Or the musical. You got it.
Episode 2, “Mutant Liberation Begins”
Bastion Appears: 3:19
Towards the beginning of the episode, Bastion can be seen seated, his back towards the camera, next to Val Cooper in a war room where a bunch of generals are watching news reports about the return of Magneto. This particular scene is important to establish Bastion’s connection to Cooper — and that OZT (Operation Zero Tolerance) has deep ties to the government. It’s also most likely an Easter egg/nod toward Bastion’s first appearance in the comics, which also found him emerging from the shadows to talk to high-ranking generals.
Episode 4, “Motendo / Lifedeath – Part 1“
Bastion Appears: 20:52
While Forge and Storm do a walk and talk, the camera passes by Forge’s wall of pictures, including a look at his time with X-Factor, and one of him staring pensively on the beach. But in the bottom right, there’s a picture of him in his army days, his arm around a man who is clearly Bastion. More to come on that, presumably.
Episode 5, “Remember It“
Bastion Appears: 20:53
Talk about the murderer visiting the scene of the crime! Bastion is at the gala in Genosha in this episode, though one would assume left before the explosions started. He passes right in front of the camera just after Magneto enters and looks up.
Episode 6, “Lifedeath – Part 2“
Bastion Appears: 1:33
Okay, here’s a bonus one; and this actually appears in the opening credits of Episode 5 as well. But in the comics, Bastion is a combination of Nimrod — a hyper-advanced Sentinel from the future — and Master Mold, a Sentinel factory. What’s that you spy above? Nimrod standing in the chest of a Master Mold.
X-Men ’97 Season 1 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
X-Men ’97 doesn’t have a one-a-day schedule like What If…? Season 2, or all-at-once like Echo. Instead, the series is getting a more traditional release schedule of two on premiere day, then one a week thereafter.
The release time is also typical. Versus what has now become a run-of-the-mill primetime “early” release for big movies and TV shows, new episodes of X-Men ’97 will be released on Wednesdays at 3 am ET / Midnight PT.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Marvel’s X-Men ’97 Season 1, and when they premiere:
- Wednesday, March 20, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 1 – “To Me, My X-Men”
- Wednesday, March 20, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 2 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”
- Wednesday, March 27, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 3 – “Fire Made Flesh”
- Wednesday, April 3, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 4 – “Motendo / Lifedeath – Part 1”
- Wednesday, April 10, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 5 – “Remember It”
- Wednesday, April 17, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 6 – “Lifedeath – Part 2″
- Wednesday, April 24, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 7 – “Bright Eyes”
- Wednesday, May 1, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 8 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 1”
- Wednesday, May 8, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 9 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 2”
- Wednesday, May 15, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 10 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 3” *Season Finale*
