Another week, another jaw-dropper of an ending from X-Men ’97. Last week, and spoilers past this point, we got the reveal that Gambit (A. J. LoCascio) is back, now reformed as Apocalypse’s (Ross Marquand) horseman of Death. This week, X-Force storms the site where the ultimate baddie brought back the ragin’ Cajun, only to discover… Apocalypse is dead???
It sure seems like he is, based on the desiccated skeleton lying on the same slab where Gambit returned. And Jubilee (Holly Chou) discovers a charred playing card — a Queen of Hearts, of course — that seems to be a clue that Gambit, now Death, is responsible for the, er, death.
But is Apocalypse dead? Can one of Apocalypse’s horsemen even kill him? Or is this part of an even bigger plan? Let’s throw out a couple of possibilities.
1. This Is Another Apocalypse
Going back to the beginning of the season — or rather the end of last season — it’s important to remember that there are actually (probably) three different versions of Apocalypse bopping around. The first is En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack), the younger version in Egypt who is granted his powers, and then proceeds to kill Magneto (Matthew Waterson). Then there’s the version from several thousands years in the future, who was last seen travelling back to the present of the 1990s. And then there’s presumably a third version, who has been in the ’90s this whole time. That’s the one who picked up Gambit’s card at the end of Season 1, and potentially the one who was reviving him as Death.
But that also means there’s likely another Apocalypse out there in the ’90s, and this corpse could be either the future version that travelled back in time, or the “present” version. The latter option seems less likely because if he dies, the older version dies (unless there are different timelines at play but let’s not get too in the weeds here). But point being, if there are indeed two Apocalypses in the ’90s, only one is dead.
2. Apocalypse Jumped Bodies
This doesn’t preclude the above theory, as one Apocalypse could have jumped to the other, but this is sort of his whole deal. He was planning on jumping into the body of young Nathan Summers (Chris Potter), the kid who will one day be Cable, but was thwarted by the X-Men in the future. Who is to say this isn’t the older body of Apocalypse who transferred his mind into his younger body like a latter day Bryan Johnson?
Alternately, the procedure Apocalypse used to revive Gambit could have, potentially, involved Apocalypse transferring to Gambit’s body, which would make things extra awful once Gambit reunites with Rogue (Lenore Zann), likely next episode — hence the “Queen of Hearts” card. But also why create a Horseman and then become that Horseman?
3. Gambit Killed Apocalypse
Sometimes the most obvious answer is the solution, and things may be exactly what we see: Apocalypse revived Gambit, and then Gambit killed him. That would match nicely with the surprise of the first season, which seemed to be positioning Mr. Sinister (Christopher Britton) as the big bad of the season before revealing it was actually Bastion (Theo James). Here, maybe we thought this was all about Apocalypse when the final boss of Season 2 is Gambit? That would, as mentioned above, have a HUGE emotional impact for the X-Men (and Rogue), even if it’s a big swerve from where viewers thought we were going.
As is, we’ve got two episodes to go, and there’s every chance this wild rollercoaster ride isn’t finished.
Does Apocalypse Die In Marvel Comics?
Apocalypse dies all the time, bro. He’s been ripped in half, murdered… In the comics, he’s an External, which technically means he’s immortal. But he can also die if his life-force is drained — see this episode of X-Men ’97 — or having his heart eaten by another External. Yuck! Basically, while he’s extraordinarily powerful, like a lot of X-Men characters he’s killed off FOR REAL THIS TIME only to shockingly come back a few years down the road, thanks to resurrection by one of his acolytes, or some long range plan. Point being, there’s a lot of precedent for Apocalypse dying… There’s even a currently running mini-game in Marvel Rivals titled “Death of Apocalypse,” if you’re curious how regular an occurrence this is.
So yeah, based on the comics — and video games — Apocalypse can die, but he always comes back. On X-Men ’97? We shall see.
X-Men ’97 Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
X-Men ’97 Season 2 premieres on Wednesday, July 1 on Disney+ at 3am ET / Midnight PT, with three new episodes on premiere date followed by one episode weekly until the finale.
Here’s the full list of episodes in X-Men ’97 Season 2 with expected premiere dates:
- Wednesday, July 1, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 1, “Days Of Past Future”
- Wednesday, July 1, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 2, “A Force To Be Reckoned With”
- Wednesday, July 1, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 3, “Rise Of Apocalypse – Part I”
- Wednesday, July 8, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 4, “Rise Of Apocalypse – Part II”
- Wednesday, July 15, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 5, “Weapon X, Lies, And DVDs”
- Wednesday, July 22, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 6, “Danger.exe”
- Wednesday, July 29, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 7, “Strange Land, Savage Heart”
- Wednesday, August 5, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 8, “The Dead Man’s Hand”
- Wednesday, August 12, 2026: X-Men ’97, Season 2, Episode 9, “Survival Of The Fittest” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch X-Men ’97 Season 2
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