The question, however, is what version of X-Factor might be involved. The first incarnation of X-Factor consisted of the original five X-Men (Cyclops, Beast, Jean Gray, Iceman, and Angel) who masqueraded as humans hunting mutants, but actually recruited and housed mutants in need (just go with it). The second incarnation was a government-sponsored team led by Havok, and also featured Polaris and Multiple Man. The third major incarnation was a detective organization led by Multiple Man and usually featured Wolfsbane and Strong Guy.
At this point, we can’t quite tell which version will show up. Apocalypse will be a big bad in season two, and he started out as an antagonist for the first X-Factor. Forge, Polaris, and Bishop’s sister Shard were on the government-sponsored team, while Polaris was sometimes a member of the detective team. Given the fact that Forge and Bishop are looking for missing mutants, we might see a mixture of all three.
X-Force
By the end of the X-Men ’97‘s first season, Cable officially joins the X-Men, while potential recruit Sunspot leaves to join Magneto. Both Cable and Sunspot are key members of X-Force, the other most likely team for season two. X-Force began as the New Mutants, a team of adolescents including Sunspot and Cannonball, who studied at Xavier’s School. Eventually, Cable takes leadership of the New Mutants and they become X-Force.
Like any other long-running teams, X-Force has had different incarnations. In addition to Cable’s team, other versions include a black-ops team that Cyclops used to take on missions that ran contrary to Xavier’s stated mission as well as the more recent take on the team that served as Krakoa’s defense force. In every version, X-Force took a more aggressive approach to super-heroics.
If X-Force does show up in X-Men ’97‘s second season, they’ll probably be the version led by Cable aka Nathan Summers. Season one ended with some time-displaced X-Men landing in the future, where the teen Nathan is being raised by the Askani Cult, and others in ancient Egypt, where they meet En Sabah Nur, who will become Apocalypse. Cable changed the New Mutants into X-Force, in part to do battle against Apocalypse, a storyline season two may adapt.
Excalibur
The rest of the possibilities are longshots (even if they don’t include the X-Men member Longshot), but they are all fan favorites. The X-Men cartoons have had fun nodding at the fans with their deep cuts, so none of these are totally out of the realm of possibility.
