Marvel has officially confirmed beloved show won't return in 2025

There are a lot of Marvel Studios projects to look forward to in 2025. That's certainly a good thing, because as great as the offerings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been this year, there haven't been that many of them. We had Echo at the beginning of the year on Disney Plus, Deadpool and Wolverine released in theaters this summer, and Agatha All Along closed things out with a spookily sensational run on Disney Plus that had the world guessing the whole way throughout.

The third and final season of What If...? is set to premiere this holiday season, and separate animated series X-Men '97 enjoyed a critically-acclaimed run earlier this year. It's been a good year for Marvel, but there were also a number of titles that were supposed to release this year that didn't due to delays.

Many of them will be coming out next year instead, as it looks set to be a huge year for the MCU. However, after much speculation, the studio has officially confirmed its line-up for 2025 and there is a beloved show we all thought would be there that isn't.

X-Men '97 season 2 won't be coming out in 2025 after all, it seems

Unfortunately, it looks like X-Men '97 season 2 won't be premiering next year after all. Disney sent out a press release this week, confirming when all of its 2025 shows and movies will debut and the second season of X-Men '97 is noticeably absent.

A spin-off of the classic X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 - 1996, X-Men '97 premiered on Disney Plus in March and very quickly became a major hit for the streamer. Like the original series, it received praise from fans and critics due to its mature themes, strong writing, and powerful performances from its voice cast. A second season was confirmed pretty early on, so fans always knew to look forward to more after it wrapped its 10-episode first outing, and there were hopes that it might release next year. But as this year has gone on, that became more unlikely.

A report from Nexus Point News suggested that the season 2 premiere had been pushed to 2026 as some changes were being made to the story and scripts. While Marvel Studios had not confirmed this report, a video package revealed earlier this month teased all of the upcoming Marvel titles coming out in 2025 and when X-Men '97 wasn't listed among them, fans began to suspect that the season 2 reports were true. This press release seems to be the definitive confirmation of that.

Even though the second season of X-Men '97 won't be coming out next year, Marvel fans can look forward to an abundance of Marvel animated content, starting with the third season of What If...? at the end of this year. That paves the way for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29, Eyes of Wakanda on August 6, and the press release also confirmed October 3 as the official release date for Marvel Zombies.

Nevertheless, X-Men '97 will return for a second season. Even if the wait is a little longer than expected, it will no doubt be worth it. As actor Ross Marquand (who voices Charles Xavier on the series) revealed, the next chapter of the series is going to be "darker" and more mature, and given how season 1 was all of those things, fans are certainly in for a ride when Marvel's Mightiest Mutants make their long-awaited comeback.

Fear not: The X-Men will return. They just need a lengthy break first.