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Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the first three episodes of X-Men ’97 Season 2.

X-Men ’97‘s first season earned incredible goodwill for its fidelity to its predecessor. There were no reboots or empty homages to be found, but a genuine continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series retaining the show’s sincerity, depth, and bells and whistles. Story-wise, Season 1 picks up where The Animated Series‘ final season left off, multiple cast members reprise their original roles or assume thematically appropriate new ones, and let’s not forget the other big one — those signature opening credits. The song’s electric guitar riffs spike more adrenaline than a 5-hour energy drink, but putting nostalgia aside, co-composers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy‘s tune and the character roster format have been routinely ranked as an all-time cartoon intro. X-Men ’97 preserves both aspects in all their glory, just with recreated animation and a high-quality re-recording.

After proving X-Men ’97 can pair authentic respect with dynamic narrative risks, Season 2 has more freedom to stretch its creative muscles — and they reach further than expected. The first three episodes overhaul those legendary credits to fit each episode’s respective content. The opening’s essence remains, which isn’t surprising; so far, X-Men ’97 roots its every move in intentionality and character-driven surprises. Tweaking the credits is no exception.

‘X-Men ’97’ Season 2’s Opening Credits Have Changed with Each New Episode

Streamlining three individual title sequences to show only the characters featured in the corresponding episode is a spectacular way to highlight Season 2’s wider recurring cast. It also hammers home (no Thor pun intended) how the core X-Men members are split between three different points in time: the past, the future, and 1997. The season premiere, “Days of Past Future,” begins with that miserably dystopian future. Having tracked their colleagues’ signatures through history, Lucas Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) and Forge (Gil Birmingham) leap into rescue missions. Naturally, Forge chooses the future out of his love for Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith).

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The time-traveling tyrant has a connection to X-Men 97’s Big Bad.

Other than Ororo summoning a solar storm like the walking goddess she is, the episode’s main dramatic arc revolves around Mother Askani’s (Gates McFadden) grand plan to shape Nathan Summers (Michael Johnston) into Apocalypse’s (Ross Marquand) downfall. Scott Summers (Ray Chase) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) steal as much time as possible mentoring and supporting the son they never expected to see again. The opening features the five major familiar players — Wolverine (Cal Dodd) and Morph (J. P. Karliak) included — hitting their power poses, followed by relevant snippets from their Season 1 story beats: Isaac taking baby Nathan into the future, Storm regaining her powers and falling for Forge, and Magneto (Matthew Waterson) tearing out Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton, to name a few.

‘X-Men ’97’ Season 2 Shaping the Credits Around Specific Characters Is a Smart Move

Episode 2, “A Force to Be Reckoned With,” takes the widest swing of the three. After an unconventional cold open, it changes the jet, the mutants surrounding it, and even the title card to match Cable (Chris Potter), Psylocke (Naoko Mori), and Archangel (Christopher Barger) recruiting Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Roberto de Costa (Gui Agustini) to their X-Force. It may be 1997, but it’s just another stop along the way in Cable’s never-ending war against Apocalypse. To that end, the credits even pit Cable and Apocalypse against each other in the closing spots usually reserved for Professor Charles Xavier (Marquand) and Magneto — the leaders of two opposing armies, the X-Force and the Four Horsemen, as their followers charge one another.

Aside from a few Jubilee and Roberto-related moments from Season 1, the action-packed scenes pull from both old and new, unseen battles. For extra flair and function, Episode 2’s main antagonists, the government-controlled X-Factor squad made up of mostly familiar faces, also cameo throughout: Havok (Teddy Sears), Polaris (Carolina Ravassa), Strong Guy (Adrian Hough), Multiple Man, and Wolfsbane.

Although no less specific, Episode 3, “Rise of Apocalypse — Part I,” mirrors Episode 1 and mostly reverts to basics. Magneto, Rogue (Lenore Zann), Beast (George Buza), Nightcrawler (Hough), and Xavier steal the show this time. It’s only fair, considering they’re stuck in 3000 BC and trying to avert countless tragedies by keeping En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack), later known as Apocalypse, on the morally good path. Given the characters involved, some of the first season’s biggest moments take center stage, too — Magneto and Xavier’s climatic and brutal fight, Rogue and Nightcrawler’s emotional hug, and the latter dueling with both hands and tail.

Unlike the other time-displaced squad, these five aren’t out of the proverbial woods yet. Once they presumably return home and reunite with the others, the credits will likely follow suit. Yet this triumph of animation and comics adaptation has made it resoundingly clear that anything’s possible. If more core characters bite the dust like Gambit (A. J. LoCascio) did in Season 1, then we can count on them vanishing in equally heart-wrenching fashion.