The X-MEN '97 May Include The Villain Madelyne Prior The Clone of Jean Grey
It looks like another villain has been revealed for X-Men '97, the upcoming revival of the classic X-Men: The Animated Series. The reveal comes in the form of a Funko Pop, and the figure is for the character Madelyne Prior, a clone of Jean Grey, who is wearing her 'Goblin Queen' costume and cradling her child.
Madelyne Pryor is a complex character from the X-Men comics and she was initially introduced as a human love interest for Cyclops aka Scott Summers after the apparent death of Jean Grey, Madelyne bore a striking resemblance to Jean, which was later revealed to be no mere coincidence. She was actually a clone of Jean Grey, created by the villain Mr. Sinister to breed with Cyclops and produce a powerful mutant offspring, Nathan Summers, who would later become the time-traveling Cable.
As Madelyne's story went on, she became increasingly entangled with the X-Men's world, facing numerous challenges that drove her towards villainy. After Cyclops abandoned her and their son in favor of the resurrected Jean Grey, Madelyne's pain and resentment made her susceptible to demonic influence. She transformed into the Goblyn Queen, a powerful sorceress, during the "Inferno" storyline. In this role, she was looking for revenge against the X-Men, especially Jean Grey, and plotted to sacrifice her son to achieve her goals.
Her inclusion in X-Men ‘97 should make for an interesting story dynamic. One of the things that I like about the X-Men animated series is how closely the story follows the comics, and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle this story arc.
The series starts with Magneto and the X-Men after Professor X left for Shi'ar space in the original show's series finale. The series brings back the original voice cast including Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Chris Potter (Gambit), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Minister Sinister).
The official synopsis reads: "Storm and Wolverine try to continue the X-Men. Magneto comes in and wants to step up for Charles Xavier. Sinister comes in to try to end the X-Men once and for all."
Beau DeMayo is the head writer and executive producer of X-Men '97. Jake Castorena is the supervising director and Charley Feldman is the supervising producer. X-Men '97 will debut on Disney+ in early 2024.