Professor X’s Absence in ‘X-Men ’97’ Isn’t as Cut and Dry as It Seems

It was just under 27 years ago that X-Men: The Animated Series gave a heart-wrenching farewell to viewers, and with it, an extra tearful goodbye to the one and only Charles Xavier.

Now, with X-Men ’97 carrying the story forward in a big way, the impact of Charles’ departure from Earth continues to carry a ripple effect in the world of X-Men, especially with Magneto becoming the headmaster of the X-Mansion, per Professor X’s last will and testament. But as connoisseurs of the original series may remember, that development wasn’t as simple as Charles Xavier biting the dust.

What happened to Professor X?

In the final episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, Professor X is attacked by Henry Gyrich—an anti-mutant liaison to the United States government—with an energy disruptor that all but decimates Professor X’s mind.

Earth’s science can only buy Charles so much time, and the team quickly concludes that the only way Charles could survive is if he were treated using the technology of the Shi’ar (an alien race and allies to the X-Men in this continuity). But with Jean Grey unable to replicate the telekinetic bond that the indisposed Charles has with Lilandra, the Empress of the Shi’ar Empire, they have little hope of contacting her.

The X-Men eventually decide to recruit Magneto (whose electromagnetism powers could amplify Charles’ brainwaves enough to reach Lilandra), who ultimately does away with leading a worldwide mutant revolution in order to save Charles’ life. Sure enough, Magneto enables Charles to contact Lilandra, who arrives in time to bring Charles back to her homeworld to have him healed.

After an individual goodbye to each of his X-Men, Charles departs Earth with Lilandra, promising his students that while he may not return to them in body, his spirit will find its way back to them someday.

“Someday” is likely to include an episode of X-Men ’97 at some point, since we know that Ross Marquand loaned his voice to the character for the show. It could just as easily be limited to flashbacks, of course, but it wouldn’t be a Marvel Studios project without copious amounts of premature hype for cameos surrounding it.

(featured image: Fox)