The Adversary in ‘X-Men ’97’ explained

Now that we’re getting into the meat of the season of X-Men ’97 on Disney Plus, we’re beginning to see a lot of new enemies who are just dying to see the X-Men taken down a peg. In episode 4, called “Motendo/Lifedeath – Part 1,” we meet one of the most memorable: The Adversary. So who is he and where did he come from?

The animated Marvel show X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 to 1997. That show was praised for its faithfulness to the source material, and the revival has been a buzzy hit for Disney so far. It picks up one year after the Animated Series, when the team lost Professor X.

We’ve met quite a few characters so far, but we were introduced to a new one in the latest episode: The Adversary. At the end of the episode, Storm gets captured by The Adversary, but the episode doesn’t reveal much about him. However, we do know a lot about the character from the comics. If the show follows the comics (which it feels like it is), then we know, at least to some degree, how the whole thing is going to play out.

First of all, Forge, a mutant and a tribal shaman, was trained in the ways of the Cheyenne tribe specifically to fight The Adversary, who has grand notions of destroying the entire universe. If we assume that the comics and show will tell the same story, then Forge and Storm will eventually beat The Adversary after the demon fools them into opening a gateway to hell. This would mean that The Adversary is going to be a major villain this season.

By the way, after The Adversary destroys our universe, he’s going to build a new one just like where he lives in the chaos dimension. In X-Men #225-227, Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Dazzler and the rest of the X-Men lay down their lives to give Forge the energy he needs to defeat The Adversary. This makes the demon the only bad guy to technically get rid of all of the X-Men. That’s a pretty good notch in your belt!

Photo via Disney Plus

The Adversary is also known as “The Great Trickster” and “Sefako the Twice-Risen God.” The Adversary is nearly invulnerable, and possesses super speed and intelligence. He can shapeshift and even possess people to keep his true identity secret. Still, the full breadth of his power isn’t really known, and we don’t really know whether he’s capable of creating a whole universe on its own. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

X-Men ’97 is now streaming on Disney Plus.