Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for X-Men'97 season 2, episode 6Although Avengers: Doomsday is only five months away, Marvel Studios is already heavily featuring many of the same mutant heroes in X-Men '97. As seen in the recent episodes of the series' second season, the threat of Apocalypse has expanded while the X-Men have reunited after being displaced across time, both in the past and future.
However, another major villain may have been hiding in plain sight for far longer than most realize: Mystique. Both seasons of X-Men '97 are packed with Easter eggs and comic references, though many have become more than simple fun nods. This includes a major Easter egg in the brand-new X-Men'97 season 2, episode 6, one that may very well be teasing Mystique's full debut in the future.
Here's how Marvel Studios is seemingly teasing Mystique in X-Men '97, five months before the character's confirmed MCU debut in Avengers: Doomsday. One of the more exciting and surprising Easter eggs in X-Men '97 season 2, episode 6 is featured in the office of Valerie Cooper, the head of the government-sanctioned team of mutants known as X-Factor. While she's reprimanding Polaris for her aggressive actions against the anti-mutant terrorists known as the Purifiers, it's disclosed that Cooper has an orange cat with a distinctive white diamond-shaped mark on its forehead, which is far more significant than some may realize.
The cat is a direct reference to the comics' Ultimate Marvel Universe, where Charles Xavier himself owned a cat looking exactly the same that was named... Mystique. That feline itself was indeed named after Raven Darkholme's Mystique, Xavier's former romantic partner in that alternate continuity.
However, what makes the Easter egg incredibly important is that the cat belongs to Valerie Cooper in X-Men '97's continuity. Ever since the first season of the beloved animated series, there's been heavy speculation based on prior potential clues that Cooper is secretly Mystique in disguise, which would mirror the comics when Raven once impersonated Cooper within the government. As a result, giving Cooper a cat looking exactly like the Ultimate Universe's feline Mystique feels incredibly intentional.
If the real Mystique has been posing as Valerie Cooper throughout the series thus far, it would explain why she's seemingly been so conspicuously absent despite being one of the X-Men's most iconic and well-known villains. Despite playing a major role in the original X-Men: The Animated Series, Mystique has yet to properly make an appearance in either season of X-Men '97. Outside a brief appearance in the updated opening credits, Raven has remained completely absent from the ongoing story, which feels increasingly deliberate, especially if she's actually been there the whole time manipulating the government's mutant policies as Valerie Cooper.
Additionally, Mystique's "Absence" Becomes even more noticeable considering how central Apocalypse has been this season. In the original animated series, Mystique served Apocalypse as one of his agents. With X-Men '97 exploring the immortal mutant's influence in the past, present, and future, it would absolutely make sense for Raven to make her presence known before the season finale.
That said, Marvel Studios may be saving the full threat of Mystique until season 3, which was just confirmed to feature the Human kinship of Mutants at SDCC. That could be the perfect opportunity for Mystique to finally step out of the shadows, especially if something happens where her role as Cooper is somehow exposed. Whether she's secretly been Valerie Cooper or not, it certainly feels like X-Men'97 is laying the groundwork for Raven Darkholme's full debut, mere months before Rebecca Romijn's Mystique makes her live-action return in the MCU with Avengers: Doomsday.
New episodes of X-Men '97 season 2 release Wednesdays on Disney+ from Marvel Studios.