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X-Men '97: Beau DeMayo Assigns Star Trek: TNG as Finale "Extra Credit"

X-Men '97 creator/writer/EP Beau DeMayo assigned this Star Trek: TNG episode as "extra credit homework" before next week's season finale.

In keeping with our promise not to do any spoiler deep-dives into "Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 2," all we will say is… wow. On one hand, we can't believe that there's still one episode to go. On the other hand, we're really glad that there's still one episode to go. Just because we're holding off on spoilers doesn't mean that series creator, writer & executive producer Beau DeMayo is holding off on "homework assignments" for next week's season finale – though he's labeling this as "extra credit" homework. But this time, it's not an animated episode or comic book – or even X-Men-related. But if you're a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, then you're in luck…

S05E18: "Cause and Effect" (directed by Jonathan Frakes and written by Brannon Braga), the classic episode finds the USS Enterprise caught in a time loop that sees the ship destroyed and the crew killed in a collision with the USS Bozeman. With each go-around, the crew gets a better sense of what they're caught up in – but can they break the loop before the next catastrophe becomes their final catastrophe? It would be a disservice to spoil anything – other than that Kelsey Grammer rocks some sweet facial hair as USS Bozeman Captain Morgan Bateson. Hmmm… time loops… let the speculation begin!

X-Men '97: Beau DeMayo's Previous "Homework Assignments"

Shortly after the seventh episode of Marvel Studios' X-Men '97, DeMayo checked in on Twitter/X to assign some "homework" ahead of this week's start of the three-episode season finale, "Tolerance Is Extinction." DeMayo suggested that fans might want to rewatch Season 4, Episodes 9 & 10 of the original animated series – "One Man's Worth Parts 11 & 2" (directed by Larry Houston, with Part 1 written by Richard Mueller and Part 2 written by Gary Greenfield). Without giving too much away, let's just say that there's a lot of timey-wimey stuff in play that resulted from a time-travel assassination of Xavier back in 1959. Following that, DeMayo updated his "assignment list" with Season 4 Episodes 3 & 4: "Sanctuary, Pt 1 and 2" (directed by Houston, with Part 1 written by Steven Melching & David McDermott and Part 2 written by Jeff Saylor), Season 5 Episode 4: "Descent" (directed by Houston and written by Melching & McDermott), and Season 1 Episode 13: "The Final Decision" (directed by Houston and written by Mark Edward Edens). Without spoilers, let's just say that they involve a whole lot more Magneto goodness for viewers – and more.

But DeMayo also had a comics reading assignment in mind: Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #304 "Fatal Attractions: '…For What I Have Done" (written by Scott Lobdell, with art from Brandon Peterson, Chris Sprouse, Paul Smith, and Jae Lee), the issue that (spoiler-free) includes a lot of X-Men attending a funeral, Magneto and the Acolytes, The Master of Magnetism making his case (and offering a safe haven), and an X-Man jumping from Xavier's team to Magneto's cause.

Heading into the season's penultimate episode, DeMayo suggested getting to know the 1989 "Marvel Action Universe" television pilot from Larry Houston for X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. Narrated by X-Men co-creator Stan Lee and boasting a team line-up that included Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, and Dazzler, the pilot saw our misunderstood heroes at odds with Magneto and his "Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists" (Toad, the Blob, Pyro, Juggernaut, and the White Queen) – with Asteroid M playing a big role in the story.

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