‘X-Men ’97’ Just Brought Back One of the Most Exciting Rocks in Marvel History

The penultimate episode of X-Men ’97 is upon us, and the straits have never been more dire.

The state of affairs we were left in last week—namely Magneto’s declaration of war against humanity and its newly-acquired legion of Prime Sentinels—was only the beginning. Between Rogue and Sunspot defecting to Magneto’s side and that jaw-dropping final moment involving a particularly indignant Wolverine, the thought of the tenth and final episode somehow topping its finale brethren is supremely tantalizing.

And while it could still ultimately prove to be short-lived, the reveal of Asteroid M’s involvement in Magneto’s deadly equation boasts plenty of implications worth diving into. But first, a refresher (or perhaps an introduction) for those who need it.

What is Asteroid M?

In a sentence, Asteroid M is Magneto’s version of Genosha—a planet-sized rock in space that he terraformed so that mutants had a human-free home to migrate to if they so wished. In the ’97 canon, it first appeared in season four of the original series, where it was ultimately hijacked by Fabian Cortez, and subsequently used to launch an attack on Earth. Magneto managed to intercept the attack and destroy Asteroid M before it could be misused again, but he seems to have rebuilt it now that Bastion has forced his hand.

Getting destroyed and rebuilt is a fairly common occurrence for Asteroid M, as five different versions of it have existed in the mainline Marvel Comics canon. The latest iteration of the comics’ Asteroid M mirrors the current context of the ’97 canon the closest. In both instances, Magneto was trying to help mutants using less extreme methods, but was ultimately pushed to his limit and went back to his old ways. In the comics, he would go on to use this version of Asteroid M as the home base for the next generation of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Beau DeMayo, of course, is likely to keep us on our toes until the very end, but ending the first season and setting up the next with the formation of such a prolific supervillain team would be a very welcome development indeed.

(featured image: Disney+)