If you ever run into Lucas Bishop, it can only mean one thing. He’s traveled back to the past to prevent some catastrophe from happening in the future.
This has been a defining trait of Bishop that goes back to his debut in X-Men: The Animated Series in 1993. He’ll have a major role in X-Men ’97, which returns for its second season on July 1, 2026. This time he has to find the X-Men and bring them back to the 1990s. But who is this hot-headed, time-traveling mutant?
Who Is Bishop?
Bishop is a mutant from the year 2055, where Sentinels rule the United States of America which led to the capture and deaths of mutants and humans. He was originally a Tracker, a mutant who hunts down other mutants on behalf of the Sentinels. When he met his quota, the Sentinels turned on him too. That’s when he joined the resistance and began work with the inventor Forge along with his sister Shard to fight against the Sentinels.
His mutant power is the ability to absorb energy and redirect it through his fists as energy blasts. He’s also an expert marksman and is prone to shooting things up first, then ask questions once the damage is done. In fact, Bishop’s recklessness and tendency to jump to conclusions have caused more harm than good.
The Original Series (1992–1997)
Bishop makes his first appearance in the season 1 two-part episode Days of Future Past. He arrives in the 1990s to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly in the hopes that it’ll prevent the Sentinel takeover from ever happening.
Unfortunately, traveling back in time has given Bishop partial amnesia, so he doesn’t remember who the assassin is. All he remembers is that they’re an X-Man who betrayed the team.
He immediately tries to kill Gambit when he sees the Cajun, assuming he’s responsible for the Sentinel taking over. The X-Men stop him, though they’re wary of Gambit because of how little they know about him. Eventually, it comes out that the real culprit turns out to be Mystique who shapeshifts into Gambit to frame him.
Before Mystique can kill Senator Kelly the real Gambit shows up but he’s knocked unconscious by Bishop’s gun. As Bishop aims his gun for the kill shot, Rogue flies in and destroys his temporal transceiver, which immediately sends Bishop back to his original timeline.
He returns in season 2’s Time Fugitives, only this time he’s trying to resolve a completely different crisis. Apocalypse has created a virus that is lethal to mutants. Bishop teams up with the X-Men where they succeed in destroying the virus, saving millions. But shortly afterwards, a furious Apocalypse vaporizes him and the X-Men.
It gets even worse.
The virus still manages to infect people and because key antibodies that would’ve prevented deadly mutations were never created, leading to the near-eradication of mutantkind. And the changes Bishop made created a temporal storm that destroys the future of another time-traveling mutant Cable. Sheesh!
Cable comes dangerously close to killing Bishop for all the trouble he’s caused, but thankfully he comes up with a better solution. Cable lets Wolverine get infected with the virus, and just like he suspected, Wolvie’s healing factor is strong enough to save his life and create the antibodies to save both timelines.
In One Man’s Worth, a villain named Fitzroy travels back in time to kill a young Charles Xavier, which seems to be the reason why Bishop’s timeline is so apocalyptic. He and his sister Shard travel back to 1959 to save Xavier and defeat the sentient Sentinel Nimrod.
By the time Beyond Good and Evil rolls around, Apocalypse has seized control of the Axis of Time itself and is kidnapping powerful psychics to reshape reality. Bishop helps save the day by freeing the psychics, who use their enhanced energy to cast Apocalypse out of the Axis and restore the timestream. And this only happens because Apocalypse knocked Bishop off-course as he was returning to his future.
X-Men ’97 Season 1
When X-Men ’97 starts, Bishop is in the year 1997 and a current member of the X-Men. He arrived at least nine months before the show began. The tie-in comic places him at the X-Mansion when Jean Grey’s pregnancy is revealed. The comic also explains that his timeband is broken and he can’t get home. So he stays to fight alongside the team as he waits for Beast to fix it.
When newborn Nathan Summers is infected with a techno-organic virus by Mr. Sinister in episode 3, Beast is incapable of curing him. Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor (a clone sent to take Jean’s place, long story) give their son to Bishop so he can try to find a cure in the future, knowing they won’t see him again. Beast is able to fix the timeband, allowing Bishop and Nathan to leave.
It’s a devastating scene. Even more so when we learn later in the season that Nathan was separated from Bishop and wound up in the future by himself. Oh, and Nathan is actually the time-traveling soldier Cable, who shows up later in season 1 as a grown man.
In the season 1 finale, a failed attempt to use the Magneto Protocols sends Asteroid M toward Earth. Magneto stops it, but the shockwave scatters the entire team across time and space. Some are sent to ancient Egypt circa 3000 BC, while other teammates find themselves in the far future.
Six months later, Forge is alone in the ruins of Xavier’s School when Bishop walks in. He reminds Forge that “this ain’t our first time at the ‘The X-Men are dead rodeo’” and that the team are lost in time. And it’s up to him and Forge to rescue them.
What’s Coming in Season 2
The trailer for Season 2 makes it clear Bishop is the one leading the charge of finding the X-Men. He has plenty of experience when it comes to dealing with the timestream. He’s also less impulsive and short-sighted than before, so hopefully his attempts won’t cause too much chaos.
Bishop isn’t perfect, but if you’re problems involve time-travel, he’s the right person to turn to for help.
X-Men ’97 Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on July 1, 2026.
