Marvel AnimationWhile a lot of modern superhero projects claim to adapt the comics faithfully, it’s still rare to find an adaptation that actually lives up to that promise. Shockingly, it’s X-Men ’97 that’s emerged as a kind of paragon of the practice. Sure, it chops and screws some storylines — and outright ignores others, despite its first season teasing the coming of Onslaught and “feral” Wolverine — but the soul of the X-Men comics has never felt so fully realized on-screen. That’s especially true in its second season, which leaps into far more ambitious territory and still sticks the landing. By scattering the X-Men across the time stream, the animated series gets the chance to adapt storylines that have lived almost exclusively on the pages of comics. Some, like the villain Apocalypse’s early days in Ancient Egypt, are somewhat well-known. But then there’s the short-lived, frequently forgotten comic that inspires the season’s future-set events. X-Men ’97 is bringing The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix to the screen for the first time, rebooting a crucial-yet-underrated comic for a new audience. Spoilers ahead for X-Men ’97 Season 2 Episode 1.The Summers clan is reunited in X-Men ’97 Season 2. | Marvel AnimationAt the end of X-Men ’97’s first season, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and a few other X-Men are brought into the far-flung future. When we catch up with them in Season 2, they’re still stuck in the 36th Century — but it’s not so bad for the X-Men’s most popular power couple, as they’ve been able to reunite with their son, Nathan Summers. (A little refresher: he was born under strange, even sinister circumstances in Season 1, infected with a techno-organic virus, and brought to the future to have a better chance at survival.) The last time Scott and Jean saw Nathan, he had already grown up into the rugged, time-traveling mercenary we know as Cable. It’s ironic that they have to travel over a thousand years into the future to see what he was like as a young teen, but our duo doesn’t waste a second of the time they have with him. Though they’re warned against revealing their true identities to Nathan, Scott and Jean do what they can to be the parents he deserves. Jean teaches him to embrace his telekinetic powers and control the virus that still wants to ravage his body, while Scott gives him some much-needed fatherly validation. Eventually, they even tell Nathan who they really are. Nathan’s guardian, Mother Askani (who’s also a member of the Summers clan in disguise), remains cautious about meddling with the natural flow of time, but Scott and Jean believe they were brought to the future for a reason — and that’s to put Nathan on the path to becoming Cable in whatever small way they can.How X-Men ’97 revamps The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix“Slym” (aka Scott Summers) and “Redd” (Jean Grey) raise their son Nathan in The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2. | MarvelComplicated as this plot twist might sound, the story as it unfolds in the comics is even twistier. The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, written by Scott Lobdell with art by Gene Ha, took the time-travel premise to its most metaphysical. In the six-issue series, published in 1994, Scott and Jean are brought into the future by Mother Askani — but seeing as their bodies could never theoretically make that trip, their consciousnesses are placed into new bodies, cloned from more recent descendants. Now known as Slym and Redd, Scott and Jean spend a short time with Nathan, training him in his powers, and eventually supporting him in his fight against Apocalypse. Though they do get sent to their own time shortly after that massive battle, Scott and Jean’s impact on Nathan’s life is acutely felt. He goes on to amass more power not only as Cable, but the Askani’Son, a messianic figure heralded as the one mutant strong enough to end Apocalypse’s reign. Earlier comics had already teased the role he would play in Apocalypse’s defeat, but The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix spelled it out in no uncertain terms. The miniseries also went a long way in establishing the timey-wimey weirdness in Scott and Jeans’ family. The inclusion of Mother Askani, who happens to be Nathan’s time-displaced sister, Rachel, makes this adventure a true family affair. That the Summers clan can only truly be together at random points in time, and only with the help of time travel, is something of a tragedy. But it’s great that X-Men ’97 isn’t shying away from the strange nuts and bolts holding this family line together. That attention to detail makes a great superhero series even better and draws eyes to a load-bearing storyline from the comics.X-Men ’97 is streaming on Disney+.