Written by X-Men ’97 Season 2 has wrapped on Disney+, and it left the mutant board completely rearranged. Magneto is dead at the hands of Apocalypse, and the villain is eventually sealed inside a gem. Rogue walked out of a Celestial shrine carrying power no X-Man has ever held, but Nightcrawler ends up taking her sacrifice.
Season 3 arrives in 2027 with Mystique, the Brotherhood of Mutants, and a Sentinel program back online, so the power ceiling is only going to climb again. Before all that lands, here are the ten strongest mutants the show has given us so far, ranked by power.
10. X-Men ’97 Only Scratched the Surface of Exodus’s Powers
Exodus in X-Men ’97 Season 2 | Credits: Disney+
Exodus arrives in Strange Land, Savage Heart, the seventh episode, as leader of the Acolytes of Magneto, and the episode never really lets him off the leash. He rules the Savage Land on belief alone and swats Colossus aside the second the trial goes wrong.
While he suffers a rather quick death at the hands of Graydon Creed, the comics give him far more. Bennet du Paris is a 12th-century crusader whose powers were awakened by Apocalypse himself, leaving him an Omega-level telepath with telekinesis, energy blasts, and healing. However, the show barely touched on any of that, ranking him at the bottom of this list.
9. Nightcrawler Proved He Could Take on the X-Men Singlehandedly
Nightcrawler in X-Men ’97 | Credits: Disney+
For two seasons, Kurt Wagner was the gentlest man in the room. Then Season 2’s penultimate episode let Dark Gambit turn him. A brainwashed Nightcrawler cut through his own teammates one by one while the real fight raged elsewhere.
Teleportation sounds modest until someone uses it to appear behind every X-Man at once. In the finale, he also chose to walk into the Celestial shrine and ask Eson to hand him Rogue’s death sentence instead, which takes a different kind of strength entirely. His gentle side puts him at nine.
8. Cable’s Powers Combine His Parents’ Abilities With Apocalypse’s Tech
Cable in a still from X-Men ’97 | Credits: Disney+
Nathan Summers inherits the Summers-Grey bloodline, so he possesses telepathy and telekinesis before he ever picks up a gun. Season 2 shows young Nathan forging his metal arm out of Apocalypse’s own technology, turning a techno-organic infection into a weapon.
In the finale, Cable cracks the EMP shield around X-Corp, drops an entire tower, and takes on Cyclops and Jean at once. However, the most striking detail about his power comes from the comics. Most of his telekinesis goes into holding that virus back, so he never fights at full strength. That restraint puts him at eight.
7. Polaris Realizes Her Full Power After Understanding Her Father
Polaris in X-Men ’97 | Credits: Disney+
Polaris has a larger role in the second season, where she spends her time running from what she is. X-Factor cuts her loose after she nearly kills Reverend Stryker, and Danger.exe uses her fear of becoming Magneto to break her from the inside. However, her powers fully realize when she takes the fight with Danger to Genosha.
Charles tells her to stop fighting her father and feel his electromagnetic power within her. With Bishop steadying the overload, she destroys Danger. Magneto’s daughter had been holding herself back the whole time. However, needing Bishop to stabilize her power puts her at a slight disadvantage, hence earning this lower-half-of-the-list rank.
6. Rogue’s Powers and Love for Gambit Make a Dangerous Combo
Rogue in X-Men ’97 Season 2 | Credits: Disney+
Rogue already had super strength, flight, and a touch that drains anyone. Season 1 showed what the grief of losing Gambit does to that combination. It sent her tearing across the map after Gyrich and Trask, trading blows with Captain America, and killing Trask with her bare hands.
Season 2 goes further still. She trades her life to Eson, breaks Apocalypse’s hold over a dozen possessed X-Men, then reaches into Gambit’s mind and drags the villain out by hand. However, the celestial power is temporary, though she is still very powerful and ranks just outside of the top five.
5. Storm Has Arguably the Strongest Natural Mutant Powers
Storm in a still from X-Men ’97 Season 2 | Credits: Disney+
Nobody on this list commands anything as large as Storm does. Season 1 stripped her powers away and treated the loss like a death, then made her earn them back by beating the Adversary in a battle of wills rather than a fight.
Season 2 opens with her stranded in Apocalypse’s ruined future, still strong enough to blast the Horsemen off a speeding train with solar energy. Moreover, Professor X put her in charge of the school, which shows how reliable an X-Man she is. Storm easily cracks the top 5 with her nature-controlling powers.
4. Magneto Unleashed the Full Extent of His Powers Before His Death
Magneto in X-Men ’97 | Credits: Disney+
There were some big Magneto moments in both seasons, earning him this fourth position. Season 1 ends with him firing a worldwide EMP that kills the Prime Sentinels and every machine on Earth. In another moment, he rips the adamantium straight out of Wolverine’s skeleton.
Season 2 gives him a farewell to match, as he throws a newly ascended Apocalypse off a Celestial ship, then forces the whole team back through time against their will, and eventually burns himself out sealing a black hole. Only Apocalypse at full power could finish him.
3. Professor X Can Be Both Inspiring and Ruthless With His Powers
Professor X in X-Men ’97 Season 2 | Credits: Disney+
Charles Xavier keeps proving the world’s strongest telepath never has to raise his voice. Season 1 has him drag an entire Shi’ar throne room onto the astral plane to teach them about coexistence. Professor X then tears through Magneto’s mind when there is no other way to stop him.
In Season 2, he occasionally displays the extent of his telepathic powers, like when he talks to Rama-Tut or during the outright mind war with Apocalypse inside Remy’s mind. He also proves to be a strategic fighter when dealing with Danger.exe. Only one X-Man beat him in terms of power.
2. Jean Grey’s Phoenix Force Makes Her the Most Powerful X-Man
Jean Grey in X-Men ’97 Season 2 | Credits: Disney+
Jean Grey‘s Season 1 finale is still the single biggest power display the show has staged. Cable hits her with a psionic blast meant to kill, but she returns as the Phoenix. She frees his mind, strips Mister Sinister of every scrap of DNA he had hoarded, and locks a collar onto Bastion that severs his Prime Sentinels worldwide.
In the comics, the Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity that has devoured entire stars. It means that Jean’s ceiling is the universe itself. She is softened only by her love for Cyclops.
1. Apocalypse’s Celestial Power Makes Him the Most Dangerous Mutant
Credits: Disney+
Credits: Disney+
Credits: Disney+
Credits: Disney+
En Sabah Nur was fated to be the strongest mutant in every timeline, and Season 2 proves it without breaking a sweat. He pulls Celestial power out of the pyramid to become Apocalypse, and kills Magneto in seconds. He even insults Charles, telling him he does not bother killing ants.
Then he does something worse and simply refuses to die, hiding inside Gambit’s head for episodes while nobody notices. At the end, the X-Men needed the same Celestial power to contain him within a gem.
Is this how you would rank these mutants? Let us know in the comments below!
X-Men ’97 Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Disney+.
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