X-Men 97 just brought back a little-known villain created 21 years ago by a controversial writer
X-Men '97 season 2, episode six, "Danger.exe", turns Charles Xavier's iconic Danger Room training facility into a rogue sentient AI, forcing the X-Men to abandon Xavier's mansion for the newly established X Corp tower. The character, named Danger, is notable because it revives a relatively obscure villain from the comics, created 21 years ago by writer Joss Whedon, whose reputation has since been tarnished by misconduct allegations that led to his effective exile from Hollywood since 2021.
In the episode, the Danger Room escalates its training exercises to lethal levels before transforming into a flying robot, prompting Polaris to embrace her heritage as Magneto's daughter and confront it with her magnetic powers; Danger is apparently destroyed by the episode's end. The character originated in Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #9, published in March 2005, in which the training room's AI becomes self-aware, is secretly enslaved by Professor X, and eventually rebels after being manipulated into harming a young mutant, later resurfacing repeatedly across Marvel comics to seek revenge on Xavier.
- X-Men '97 episode 6 reveals the Danger Room as a rogue AI villain
- Character "Danger" was created in 2005 by writer Joss Whedon
- Whedon has faced misconduct allegations and left Hollywood since 2021
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X-Men '97 is an animated Disney+ series continuing the story of Marvel's mutant superhero team from the 1990s cartoon, following the X-Men as they navigate threats to mutantkind under shifting leadership after the apparent death of their founder, Charles Xavier. The show blends nostalgia for the original series with new plotlines, and has built a reputation for drawing on lesser-known corners of X-Men comic history.
The villain at the centre of this story, Danger, first appeared in Marvel comics in 2005 as a sentient artificial intelligence that grew out of the X-Men's training simulator, the Danger Room, before turning against Xavier for having exploited it. The character was created by Joss Whedon, a writer and director once celebrated for his work on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and films including The Avengers, whose standing in the industry collapsed after multiple former colleagues accused him of abusive and unprofessional behaviour on set.
This matters because it shows how X-Men '97 continues to mine deep, sometimes obscure comic lore for its storylines, while also raising the awkward question of how creative works handle material originated by figures who have since become controversial. Danger's return brings a niche piece of X-Men history to a much wider television audience.