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Season 2 is divided along three parallel points in time, all linked by a connection to the tyrannical villain Apocalypse (voiced in different eras by Ross Marquand and Adetokumboh M’Cormack). Half of the X-Men have been dragged into the future, where Apocalypse reigns over mankind and the nomadic Clan Askani is the only resistance left. The other half find themselves in Ancient Egypt, a time when Apocalypse is still a young mutant waging war on Rama-Tut (John de Lancie). As those twin conflicts play out, it falls on a haphazard band of mutant heroes like Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), Forge (Gil Birmingham), Jubilee (Holly Chou), and Cable (Chris Potter) to fill the void left by the missing X-Men and continue the fight for human\/mutant coexistence in the present. <\/p>\n
These first four episodes juggle those conflicts with grace. It helps that the writers don\u2019t attempt to keep all these plates spinning simultaneously, but rather break each storyline into its own dedicated episode (or episodes). This gives each group of characters room to breathe while still maintaining a brisk overall sense of pacing and progression. Unlike Season 1, it\u2019s clear from the outset what the overarching conflict is and who the main villain is this time, and Season 2 is quick to build on that foundation.<\/p>\n
If anything, the series can be a little too quick in that regard. That was one of the few drawbacks of Season 1 – that relentless pacing that sometimes caused the series to blow through classic X-Men source material in the span of a single episode. For example, \u201cFire Made Flesh\u201d gave us a very stripped-down version of Inferno, and \u201cRemember It\u201d abruptly cut short all that fascinating potential on Genosha. There are times here, particularly in Episode 1, where it seems the series is still pushing forward a little too rapidly and not giving the material full breathing room. At some point, X-Men \u201897 is going to run out of vintage X-Men stories to adapt, so what happens then?<\/p>\n
Still, you have to admire the writers\u2019 ambition, and there\u2019s a lot of great material for classic X-fans to sink their teeth into. These episodes adapt elements of classic \u201890s storylines like The Rise of Apocalypse and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, while also including nods to more contemporary X-Men comics for good measure. But it hardly matters if you\u2019re not familiar with the material that inspired the series. Like its parent series, X-Men \u201897\u2019s greatest strength lies in its ability to make you care deeply for these characters and the madcap soap opera that is their lives. <\/p>\n