If you ask someone who’s the greatest villain from X-Men: The Animated Series, Magneto or Mister Sinister usually pop up. But Apocalypse is in a completely different league. Now, more than 30 years later, he’s back as the main antagonist in X-Men ’97 Season 2.
Who Is Apocalypse?
His real name is En Sabah Nur, and he is considered by many to be the world’s first mutant. In the original animated series, Apocalypse was voiced by John Colicos in the early seasons and later by James Blendick. The two actors gave him a theatrical, commanding presence that made him feel ancient. Physically, he’s a massive figure clad in blue-and-purple armor, with a grey skin face and a dark stripe across his lower face.
His powers range from shapeshifting, the ability to grow as tall as a building, mind reading, energy projection, extreme strength and durability. He can tank hits from Cyclops or Magneto without flinching. He’s also resistant to telepathy. When Jean Grey tried to read his mind, he easily blocked her. He really is a force of nature to be reckoned with.
But what really sets Apocalypse apart from other X-Men villains is his almost religious belief in survival of the fittest. He sees both humans and mutants as nothing more than tools or pawns in an ongoing struggle.
His origins date back to ancient Egypt, roughly 3000 B.C. By 1200 B.C., he was already operating out of what is now Cairo, surrounded by his four Horsemen and wielding Celestial technology.
One invention Apocalypse created with this advanced tech was the Lazarus Chamber, a device that allows him to be immortal by restoring his body, though the caveat is he has to hibernate every century. He also made a backup chamber that was hidden and guarded by a Mayan tribe in case the first one was ever destroyed.
His History in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997)
“The Cure” and “Come the Apocalypse” introduced Apocalypse as a master manipulator working from the shadows. He had Mystique impersonate a scientist named Dr. Gottfried Adler, who tricked mutants into getting a supposed “cure” for mutations on Muir Island. Many mutants desperate to live normal lives lined up to take this cure, only to be turned into Apocalypse’s servants instead.
One notable victim was Warren Worthington III or Angel who was transformed into Archangel, a Horseman whose feathered wings were now metallic. The X-Men managed to stop him, with Rogue using her powers to free Archangel from his conditioning so he could turn on his former master. Apocalypse escaped, but the damage was done. Archangel swore he’d get revenge for what had been done to him.
“Beyond Good and Evil” is where Apocalypse’s ambition expanded to a terrifying scale. After realizing he’d spent millennia fighting the same battles against mutants and humans, he decided to start over. He ambushed Cable, stole his time-travel device before escaping into the Axis of Time. Trapped outside of normal time, he spends centuries in Immortus’ citadel studying how the time-stream worked.
Then he came up with a plan: kidnap every powerful psychic in existence from across different timelines and drain them all at once. The psychic backlash would release a wave of energy that would destroy the universe, allowing him to remake it in his image. It’s a shocking twist, particularly for a children’s cartoon. The X-Men, Cable, Magneto, and even Mystique band together to stop him. Apocalypse is defeated and his Lazarus Chamber destroyed…but his essence survives in the astral plane.
Between these major arcs, he was also responsible for creating a virus designed to wipe out both humans and mutants (which only Wolverine’s healing factor could neutralize), a failed assassination plot against Senator Robert Kelly using the Brotherhood of Mutants, and a drawn-out confrontation with Archangel that ended with him being launched into space in an escape pod.
No matter what happens, the X-Men never succeed in truly ending Apocalypse’s reign of terror. It’s more like they’re only delaying the inevitable. Apocalypse is always several steps ahead, finding a way to turn each defeat into a minor setback. When he told Graydon Creed that he was “as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you,” that was merely a statement of fact from his perspective.
What to Expect from Apocalypse in X-Men ’97 Season 2
Season 2 of X-Men ’97 premieres on Disney+ on July 1, 2026, and it’s clear that a lot of major story arcs will revolve around Apocalypse in some capacity. Season 1 ended with the X-Men scattered across the time-stream. Cyclops and Jean Grey were thrown thousands of years into a future ruled by Apocalypse. Meanwhile Magneto, Professor X, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast were sent back to ancient Egypt where they encountered a young En Sabah Nur. Storm, Wolverine, and Morph are currently unaccounted for. Bishop and Forge are working to get everyone back to the 1990s, unaware that Apocalypse is back in the present-day.
The season is pulling from several major comics at once. The Rise of Apocalypse miniseries covers his origins, which is why some of the X-Men have ended up in ancient Egypt right before En Sabah Nur became Apocalypse. The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix takes Cyclops and Jean to a dystopian future ruled by Apocalypse. And The Twelve is where Apocalypse tried to absorb the power of twelve specific mutants, which would explain the return of Bishop.
Of course, there’s no denying that the creative team is inspired by Age of Apocalypse, the landmark 1995 comics event where Apocalypse takes over North America and the X-Men exist in an alternate timeline.
There’s also speculation that Gambit, who died in the Genosha massacre halfway through Season 1, could be resurrected as one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen. Season 1 did end with a shot of Apocalypse picking up one of Gambit’s playing cards in the ruins of Genosha. So we could be getting an adaptation of 2006’s Blood of Apocalypse arc (where Gambit became the Horseman Death in the comics) as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all will come together when season 2 finally drops. One thing we know for sure is regardless of where you are in the time-stream, Apocalypse is a threat that spans past, present, and future.
All five seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series, along with Season 1 of X-Men ’97 are available to stream on Disney+.
