X-Men ‘97has proven itself to be one of Marvel’s best projects in years. It’s a flawless update of a classic series that somehow captures its impact while updating it to suit a modern audience. Most of'97’s marketing has been through word-of-mouth sources. Unlike a major Marvel movie,X-Men ‘97can rely almost entirely on fans expressing widespread love. The only risk is constant spoilers, including the shocking reveal of the new overarching villain, Bastion.
The X-Men have an excellent rogues gallery. Their antagonists tend to be far more engaging than those chosen to fight the Avengers.Magneto overshadows most examples, as he’s one of the best ever to grace the medium, but big names like Apocalypse, Cassandra Nova, and even Mister Sinister remain engaging. Hardcore fans can name several other fascinating enemies, including a complex figure like Bastion.
Creators
Scott Lobdell, Pascual Ferry
Bastion is a fascinatingX-Menvillain with a bizarre origin story. He existed in the comics long before the writers felt the need to share his background. Bastion is a combination of the Master Mold, a robotic supercomputer designed tocreate and control Sentinels, and Nimrod, an incredibly advanced descendant of the aforementioned machines. The two figures merged during a fight with the X-Men. Though Nimrod was originally designed to hunt mutants, his time undercover allowed him to evolve and seek peace. He fused with Master Mold accidentally, then intentionally caused their combined form to self-destruct. The resulting explosion sent the villains through the vague Siege Perilous, which spat them out as a humanoid android with amnesia. A kind human woman named Rose Gilberti took the lost soul in, naming him Sebastion Gilberti. Sebastion was a decent man and devoted son until he fell in with a bad crowd. Consistent exposure to the hateful Friends of Humanity organization reawakened Sebastion’s core programming, prompting him to resume his grim work.
Bastion established Operation: Zero Tolerance, a strike team designed to wipe out mutantkind. He turned several humans into Prime Sentinels by forcefully outfitting them with nanotechnology. His plan worked for a time. Bastion captured several powerful mutants before taking overXavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The X-Men defeated Operation: Zero Tolerance by gaining the approval of politicians Henry Peter Gyrich and Robert Kelly, who convinced the President to intervene. S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested Bastion, entering a cycle of captures and escapes that would continue through the rest of Bastion’s comic book lifespan. He escaped, only to face Cable’s wrath. He survived that attack, only to lose his head to Wolverine, who was operating as one ofApocalypse’s Horsemen at the time. Mainspring and Warlock let Bastion suffer a virus, which allowed him to build an alien superstructure before they shut him down.
Bastion’s final assaults were his greatest. InX-Force, he reanimated or brainwashed several other X-Men antagonists to create a new version of Operation: Zero Tolerance. This prompts disorder among his allies and an attack from Wolverine. Bastion retreats, likely still reeling from hisprevious encounter with Logan. He assembled a massive army of anti-mutant crusaders to enact a final assault. He dropped a dome on the X-Men to trap them, then opened a portal to bring more Nimrods into the battle. The X-Men seemed defeated, but a hop into the future allowed them to reprogram the Nimrod Sentinels. Hope Summers eliminated Bastion with a psychic blast, but he somehow survived that as well. Bastion returns in a humorous arc in which he decides to become mutantkind’s savior, reasoning that he can’t eliminate them if they don’t exist. His scheme involvescreating new mutantswith Mothervine, but Emma Frost turns against him. X-Man Shen Xorn claims Bastion’s final death (to date) by consuming them both into the black hole inside his brain.
Who is Bastion inX-Men ‘97?
Bastion is the hidden final threat behindX-Men ‘97’s conflict. The most recent episode, “Bright Eyes,” depicts the X-Men in Madripoor, where they discover a secretive organization going by “OZT.” By the end of the episode, they learn from time-traveler Cable that Mister Sinister, the main antagonist of the show so far, has an ally they haven’t heard of yet. Bastion is the final boss. He reveals thatCharles Xavier and Magnetoare still alive in his captivity. Bastion will bring the wrath of the Prime Sentinels to bear in the three-part finale ofX-Men ‘97.
Bastion is a bizarre antagonist. He’s a machine programmed to carry out a mission of hatred, but his ability and motivation to do so shift as things change. Hispresence inX-Men ‘97will likely be more focused than any portrayal he has enjoyed in the comics. Bastion is justifiably terrifying, but a deeper dive into his strange backstory could yield a fascinating new chapter in anX-Menstory.
