X-Men ’97: Why Couldn’t Cable Prevent the Genosha Massacre?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 8, “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1”.

X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 5, “Remember It” sees an army of Sentinels lay waste to Genosha after time-traveler Cable arrives too late to warn the X-Men. So, why couldn’t Cable prevent the Genosha massacre?

Related: Will There Be an X-Men ’97 Season 2?

Why Cable Couldn’t Prevent X-Men ’97’s Genosha Massacre, Explained

As revealed early on in X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 8, “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1,” a temporal anomaly kept Cable from averting the Genosha massacre. Every time he tried traveling back to before the tragedy, he was mysteriously sucked back to his own time. Beast subsequently theorizes that Cable was butting up against an “absolute point” in the timeline: an event that cannot be changed, no matter what. Absolute points previously appeared in Marvel Studios What If…? animated anthology series, so their introduction in “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1” cements X-Men ’97s place within the MCU multiverse. Beast also links the absolute point concept to “the mystics of Kamar-Taj” – an oblique nod to the X-Men ’97 universe’s Doctor Strange.

Related: X-Men ’97: How Old Is Rogue?

Cable’s big monologue apparently fills in another gap in X-Men ’97 continuity, as well. In Season 1, Episode 3, “Fire Made Flesh,” Bishop takes baby Nathan Summers – the future Cable – to his native time. This clashes with the canon laid out in X-Men ’97‘s precursor, X-Men: The Animated Series, which establishes Bishop as from 2055 and Cable as from 3999. Cable’s dialogue in “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1” seemingly explains this discrepancy, revealing that Cable ended up even further in the future after Bishop whisked him away as a baby. That said, Cable landed in Bastion’s human utopia, rather than Apocalypse’s dystopia depicted in X-Men: The Animated Series. Whether the former setting is an alternate 3999 or a different era entirely remains unclear, though.

Does Cable Try Preventing the Genosha Massacre in Marvel’s X-Men Comics?

Nope – heck, Cable’s not even in that story! The comic book version of the Sentinel attack on Genosha unfolds in the New X-Men story arc “E is for Extinction,” which doesn’t involve time travel of any kind. Bastion also plays no part in proceedings, so the anti-mutant future he ushers in isn’t something Cable, Bishop, or any other time traveler would need to warn the X-Men about. Admittedly, the final New X-Men arc, “Here Comes Tomorrow,” does involve undoing a dark future, although again, Cable sits this one out.

Related: X-Men ’97: What Are Prime Sentinels?

So, what does Cable use his time-travel technology for in Marvel’s X-Men comics? All sorts of stuff. Fighting against Apocalypse and his own, deranged clone, Stryfe. Hanging out with his dad, Scott Summers/Cyclops, and adoptive mother, Jean Grey/Phoenix. Leading another mutant superhero team, X-Force. Teaming up with Deadpool. Protecting ultra-important mutant baby Hope. All this and more – just nothing to do with saving Genosha.

X-Men ’97 is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.