X-Men '97 Gives A Mutant From One Of Marvel's Most Acclaimed Comic Stories Their Screen Debut

X-Men ’97 season 2 is less than a week away from premiering on Disney+. Two years ago, season 1 was met with critical acclaim, with many considering it a worthy revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, if not deeming it superior to its predecessor. The show went on to earn accolades like winning a Critics’ Choice Television Award, and being nominated for a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award and a Saturn Award.

At the end of the X-Men ’97 season 1 finale, many of the title heroes were sent to either 3,000 B.C. in Ancient Egypt, or the post-apocalyptic future of 3,960 A.D. However, Jubilee, Sunspot, and Forge all remained in the “present day” of 1997, though the latter was recruited by Bishop to help him find the time-displaced X-Men. Meanwhile, it’s been confirmed that Jubilee and Sunspot will join Cable, Archangel, and Psylocke on the X-Force team.

Sabretooth, Havok, Polaris, and Lady Deathstrike are among the other new faces who will appear in X-Men ’97 season 2, though all those characters had previously been seen in X-Men: The Animated Series. In contrast, the latest preview for season 2 has revealed that a mutant from Marvels, one of Marvel Comics’ most acclaimed stories, is making her screen debut in the upcoming Marvel TV show.

Marvels’ Mutant Little Girl Has A Cameo In X-Men ’97 Season 2

Disney+

At the halfway point of the “One Week Countdown” X-Men ’97 season 2 preview released earlier this week, Jubilee is shown being led down a corridor filled with mutant prisoners trapped behind energy barriers and, like her, wearing inhibitor collars around their necks. One of these prisoners is a little girl who puts her hand up against the barrier as Jubilee is walking by. She looks a lot like the “grey aliens” frequently depicted in alien abduction and UFO stories.

In the comics, this girl’s name is Maggie, and she was introduced in the Eisner Award-winning Marvels, written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Alex Ross. In issue #2 of the limited series, photographer Phil Sheldon learned that his daughters had been hiding Maggie in their basement after discovering her “wet and cold” in the nearby park. Maggie told Phil her parents abandoned her, and she’d been living on the streets ever since. This is the same mutant with “a face like a skull” whom Phil’s neighbors were determined to kill.

Up until this point in the story, Phil was among the many who expressed anti-mutant sentiments. He even joined an angry mob that cornered the X-Men and threw a chunk of brick at Iceman’s head. Phil found it a “terrifying thought” that mutants would “kick the dirt onto our graves” by rendering Homo sapiens “obsolete.” He abandoned his bigotry after meeting Maggie, as the look in her eyes reminded him of what he saw when the prisoners of Auschwitz were liberated.

Maggie Already Has A Darker Fate In X-Men ’97

The little mutant girl Maggie sitting in the corner of a basement floor, crying and hugging her knees

It remains to be seen if X-Men ’97’s version of Maggie will have any significant screen time, or if she’s just been included as a throwaway character. Either way, she’s already in a worse position than her comic book counterpart. For all that the original Maggie went through, at least she wasn’t imprisoned.

In Marvels, Maggie ends up leaving the Sheldon family, writing in a goodbye note that she doesn’t want to put them in danger. In the follow-up series Marvels: Eyes of the Camera, it was revealed that she found her way to a village in New Guinea and was welcomed by its people, even after they learned she’s not what Americans all look like. Along with arranging for medical supplies and books to be sent to the village, Maggie used her X-ray vision to help treat the villagers’ diseases, as well as taught them to read. They, in turn, protected her from patrolling Sentinels.

By the end of Marvels: Eyes of the Camera, the now-adult Maggie traveled back to the United States and reunited with the Sheldon family at the hospital where Phil was being treated for lung cancer. It was a heartwarming moment, whereas based off this snippet of footage from X-Men ’97, this version of the character likely wasn’t taken in by anyone as kind as the Sheldons. Whatever events led to Maggie’s capture, it’ll be up to Jubilee and any other allies in that complex to free her and the other prisoners.

X-Men ’97 season 2 premieres its first three episodes Wednesday, July 1 on Disney+. Those interested in reading Marvels and Marvels: Eyes of the Camera can access these series digitally by subscribing to Marvel Unlimited.