Polygon looks ahead to how "X-Men '97" season 2 might resolve its Apocalypse storyline, arguing that the animated series has consistently drawn on classic X-Men comic arcs (such as the fall of Genosha and "Lifedeath") and is likely to do the same as it builds towards a climax involving En Sabah Nur. Because Apocalypse has actually featured in relatively few major comic storylines, the piece narrows down the likely source material to five candidates, ranked from most to least probable, to speculate on the show's endgame.

The article opens with "The Twelve," a 1990s comic arc originating from a 1986 X-Factor storyline, in which a group of mutants — including Apocalypse, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey and others — were targeted by advanced Sentinels as future leaders of mutantkind. In the eventual story, Apocalypse sought to steal the powers of twelve specific mutants to achieve godhood, in a convoluted saga involving time travel, faked deaths and the death (later reversed) of Cyclops. The author suggests this messy, sprawling arc suits the show's tendency to remix and reinterpret classic storylines, making it a strong candidate, alongside four further comics on the list not detailed here.