The latest round of “X-Men ’97” toy leaks reveal that Madelyne Pryor will play a role when the animated series debuts on Disney+. However, what if Marvel Studios used the footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con to mislead attendees? With the X-Men villain making her animation debut, nothing’s off the table, particularly when it comes to Jean Grey.
In the comics, Madelyne Pryor appeared in the Marvel Universe just after Jean Grey died. While a Jean Grey lookalike sounds wonderful to Scott Summers, her resemblance to the late mutant was much deeper than that just looks. The comics revealed that Mister Sinister had cloned Jean, creating Madelyne to form a superior mutant with Scott. While it sounds ridiculous, the plan sort of worked, with Scott and Madelyne falling in love, getting married, and having a baby, who would eventually become Cable. Scott, being the standup gentleman he is, abandoned Madelyne and their son once he learned Jean was alive, setting Madelyne down a villainous path as the Goblin Queen.
With Madelyne’s baby-oriented comic-book origins in mind, the pieces seem to be falling into place for Marvel Studios to include this storyline, or some version of it, in “X-Men ’97.” It can’t be a coincidence that the SDCC footage showed a pregnant Jean Grey just for Funko to reveal a Madelyne Pryor Pop a few months later, suspiciously holding a baby. Of course, we won’t know if Jean is pregnant or if it’s really Madelyne Pryor until “X-Men ’97” premieres, but there’s clearly some Summers family drama hitting Disney+ early next year.