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Adam Blevins

Maggie Lovitt

Published Jun 10, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

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Marvel fans have been enjoying a surplus of content on Disney+ this year, and it all started with the premiere of Wonder Man, the showbiz epic starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley. The show was dropped as a binge at the end of January, but the same can’t be said for Marvel’s second Disney+ show of the year, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. The MCU is also eyeing a big year on the big screen, starting with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and Jon Bernthal as The Punisher. The film is expected to lead directly into Avengers: Doomsday, starring Robert Downey Jr as Victor Von Doom, which is coming to theaters on December 18. However, there is one more Marvel project coming back this year that has everyone talking.

Marvel Animation recently unleashed the first breathtaking trailer for X-Men ‘97 Season 2, also confirming that the show will finally return on July 1. Ahead of the X-Men ‘97 Season 2, Collider’s Maggie Lovitt reunited with Storm actress** Alison Sealy-Smith **for a panel at Indiana Comic Convention, with fans from around the U.S. in attendance. While Sealy-Smith was tight lipped on details about Season 2 or 3, which is already confirmed, she did share a shocking story where she revealed she almost completely missed out on starring in the show.

When the Q&A portion of the panel kicked off, a fan named Nick stepped up to the plate and asked Sealy-Smith what emotions she felt when X-Men ‘97 was first announced. “I opened my computer one day, and I’m looking at my email, and there’s a message from this guy who I do not recognize from Disney,” she said. Continuing, she revealed that she thought the email was nothing more than an elaborate scam, “[The email] says ‘Disney is looking for you.’ I promptly deleted it. I don’t know what the scam was, but you weren’t going to get this lady. Whatever you’ve got for sale, I ain’t buying.” She further elaborated on the rest of the story, where she admits her agent had to encourage her to follow through on the opportunity of a lifetime:

“One week, two weeks goes by, and the guy writes me again — ‘They’re doing a reboot of X-Men and Disney’s looking for you. Is this Alison Sealy-Smith?’ I called my agent. I said, ‘Look, there’s some a-hole who keeps emailing me talking about X-Men. We haven’t done X-Men in 30 years.’ She said, ‘Alison, could you just get in touch with the guy?’ So I did — and here we are.”

Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.

You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.

You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.

Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.

You’ve been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What’s left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.

Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.

You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.

While plot specifics about X-Men ‘97 Season 2 are still being kept under wraps, the first trailer confirmed that it will see the X-Men scattered across time as they work to get back to their original timeline. The primary threat in Season 2 will presumably be Apocalypse (voiced by Ross Marquand), who teased to Collider last year that there are so many deaths in the new season that he’s amazed Disney even greenlit it. After losing Gambit, Madelyn Prior, and other mutants, it sounds like fans need to prepare for more loss in Season 2.

Check out the first season of X-Men ‘97 on Disney+ and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Season 2.

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Science Fiction

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Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley

A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.