Episode 7 of X-Men ‘97, titled “Bright Eyes”, revealed the show’s true villain. The ending scene of the last episode made everyone believe that Mister Sinister was responsible for destroying Genosha, which also resulted in the tragic death of Gambit. But the latest episode proves that Sinister was just a puppet, working for an even more powerful villain, Bastion.
Created by Scott Lobdell and Pascual Ferry, Bastion first appeared in X-Men #52 (May 1996). The Uncanny X-Men comic book series #333 (June 1996) marked his first full-fledged appearance. He rapidly rose to power while working for the US government as Sebastion Gilberti, allowing him to create a dangerous anti-mutant strike force, OZT (Operation: Zero Tolerance).
Bastion did not appear in the original X-Men: The Animated Series as the iconic animated show debuted in 1992. On the other hand, the supervillain made his comic debut in 1996. He is not entirely human. In fact, his physical structure contains elements of Master Mold (Bolivar Trask’s ultimate anti-mutant weapon which is capable of producing more Sentinels) and Nimrod (a highly-advanced Sentinel from the future). In addition, he is responsible for creating human-Sentinel hybrids, like Trask in Episode 7.
Episode 7 establishes Bastion as a supervillain not to be taken lightly. He openly criticises Mister Sinister and Bolivar Trask for their failures against the X-Men. Plus, he is more ruthless than Sinister and Trask, which makes him more dangerous. Bastion possesses incredible physical capabilities. Moreover, he leverages his enhanced senses against his foes due to his cybernetics. But the power that makes him really dangerous is his ability to control Sentinels, which stems from his connection with the techno-organic virus, the same virus that infected Nathan Summers, aka Cable, in his childhood.
It seems like we will see more of Bastion and his OZT in the upcoming episodes. Stream X-Men ‘97 on Disney+ Hotstar. Stay tuned for more updates.
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