X-Men '97 Producers Discuss Nightcrawler's Fate & Season 3

Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: X-Men '97

X-Men '97 Producers Discuss Nightcrawler's Fate & Season 3

X-Men ‘97 EPs Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald discuss Nightcrawler's Season 2 fate and if there's any chance he returns for the third season.

Published Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:37:09 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• X-Men ’97 Season 2 ends with Nightcrawler’s shocking sacrifice, as Kurt Wagner gives his life to save Rogue.
• Eric and Julia Lewald confirm Nightcrawler’s death is permanent, calling the emotional finale an earned choice.
• The producers praise showrunner Matthew Chauncey and the writers for shaping X-Men ’97’s devastating Season 2 twist.
• X-Men ’97 Season 2 also delivers major losses for Magneto and Apocalypse, raising the stakes heading into Season 3.

X-Men '97 season two delivered a shocking finale that sent ripples that are still being felt. While death is not new dating back to The Animated Series two-part series premiere in 1992's "Night of the Sentinels" when the shapeshifting member of the team, Morph (voice of Ron Rubin) was killed after a Sentinel blasted him at point-blank range, only to return in the fifth and final season, discovered to been revived and turned by Mr. Sinister (voice of Chris Britton). As he was freed from his spell and returned to the team, he also became part of the Disney+ sequel series X-Men '97, now voiced by JP Karliak and Rubin, who voice President Kelly. This time around, it's Gambit (voice of A. J. LoCascio) who gets killed by a Sentinel in season one, only to be revived in season two by Apocalypse (voice of Ross Marquand), but under his power.

That is, until Rogue (voice of Lenore Zann) was enhanced after conducting a deal with the Celestial, Eson the Searcher (voice of Matthew Waterson), who declared in exchange for his help, he cryptically tells her that it requires a great sacrifice in the season two finale, "Survival of the Fittest." As Rogue saved Gambit and contained Apocalypse in a gem, nothing happened to her, but not before it was revealed that Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner (voice of Adrian Hough) approached Eson to give his life for her. Executive producers Eric Lewald (who served as showrunner for X-Men: TAS) and Julia Lewald spoke with The Direct to see if there's any hope of Wagner's return.

X-Men '97 Producers Confirm Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler's Season 3 Fate

"Oh yeah," Eric said, on whether Wagner's death is permanent. Julia added, "But the finale of Season 2 is very emotional, and it's earned. It is earned because those are the characters that we've all spent 30 years marinating in, and thinking of, and loving." Eric credited showrunner Matthew Chauncey, who took over after Beau DeMayo (also heavily involved creatively in season 2 before his departure), with how the season turned out. "And because of the personal relationships among the ones that are in jeopardy, and the one that ends up having to pay the price, it just… it fits. It fits, and again, we can't take credit for that story twist. The guys, you know, Matt Chauncey and the people doing the writing made that choice, but we think it's a perfect choice."

Hough joined TAS during season 3 episode "Nightcrawler" and appeared in two more episodes across seasons 4 and 5. His role was greatly expanded, appearing in 11 episodes across both seasons of X-Men '97. Nightcrawler's death was certainly not the only major casualty of season two, as Magneto/Erik Lensherr (Waterson) died after expending all his energy battling Apocalypse alongside Charles Xavier/Professor X (Marquand) as the tyrant incinerates him at point-blank range, only leaving his helmet behind. For more, you can check out the entire interview. Both seasons of X-Men '97, which also feature the voices of Ray Chase, Alison Sealy-Smith, Jennifer Hale, George Buza, and Holly Chou, are available on Disney+

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