X-Men '97 - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details

In various crowd scenes and background shots, eagle-eyed viewers can spot characters from other contemporary Marvel cartoons, most notably Spider-Man from his own 1994 animated series. This suggests a shared universe, just as the original shows occasionally hinted at.

In the episode "Mutant Liberation Begins," when Magneto is on trial at the UN, a news broadcast shows the villain Absorbing Man being apprehended. The news ticker on the screen also mentions events related to Captain America, further connecting the series to the wider Marvel universe.

In Episode 6, "Lifedeath - Part 2," when Professor X is psychically battling the Shi'ar, he has a brief, nightmarish vision of the X-Men's future. In it, Gambit is seen transforming into a skeletal figure resembling Death, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, directly foreshadowing the post-credits scene of the finale.

The episode "Motendo/Lifedeath - Part 1" features the return of the villain Mojo, who traps Jubilee and Roberto in a deadly video game world. The games are filled with parodies and references to classic 16-bit video games from the 1990s, complete with era-appropriate graphics and sound design.

During the chaos of the Prime Sentinel attack in the finale, the superhero duo Cloak and Dagger can be briefly seen helping civilians, a nod to other street-level Marvel heroes.