In the world of superhero comics, no story is ever truly over. That’s something that holds true this week, as one of the most beloved superhero animated shows of all-time, X-Men: The Animated Series, gets a continuation with X-Men '97 on Disney+, a new series that maintains continuity with the original show.

While the creators behind X-Men '97 clearly have their own ideas about the future of Marvel's animated mutant heroes, there are a few lingering plotlines from the original series that are bound to come up again. After all, we still need closure! Ahead of X-Men ‘97’s two-episode premiere on March 20, we're taking a look back at the unresolved subplots of X-Men: The Animated Series.

X-Men '97 debuts its first two episodes March 20 on Disney+

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1. Will the Phalanx strike back?

The fifth season of X-Men: The Animated Series featured a two-part episode that introduced the Phalanx, the Borg-like techno aliens from the comics. After nearly assimilating the world, the Phalanx were defeated by a virus created by Beast and unleashed by Warlock, who was one of the Phalanx himself.

Yet in the comic book realm, the Phalanx have always returned. Before leaving with his lifemate, Warlock indicated that he planned to confront the Phalanx on their homeworld. In another scene that may hint at their return, Cameron Hodge--the mutant-hating human avatar of the Phalanx--was restored to humanity alongside the rest of the Phalanx’s victims. However, Hodge still had cybernetic parts on his body after the cure was administered. Perhaps the Phalanx tech wasn’t entirely wiped away from him.

2. Will Apocalypse return in his new body?

In the four-part epic, "Beyond Good and Evil," Apocalypse made his move to reshape the entire universe. Even the combined powers of the X-Men weren't able to slow him down. Instead, it took the collective might of Charles Xavier and all of the psychics that were kidnapped by Apocalypse to banish him from history by sending him to the Astral Plane.

Apocalypse attempted to return in the fifth season, but he needed a mutant body to become his new host. When Fabian Cortez failed to get one for him, Apocalypse took his body instead. That's a huge cliffhanger that X-Men ‘97 has to address at some point. Because more than any other X-Men foe, Apocalypse has the power to dominate the entire world.

3. What is Immortus planning?

During the unfolding time crisis in "Beyond Good and Evil," Bishop encountered Bender, the self-described custodian of the timeline. Bender played the fool, but he was ultimately helpful in disrupting Apocalypse’s plans. Yet it was only after all of the heroes had left that Bender revealed his true identity as Immortus, a future incarnation of Kang the Conqueror.

Kang's place in the MCU may be unclear after Johnathan Majors’ exit, but Immortus and his link to Kang is one of the few ways that the X-Men ‘97 universe can connect to the ongoing story of The Multiverse Saga in the MCU. Although from what little we’ve seen of X-Men ‘97, it looks like the team has their hands full in their own time period.

4. What happened to Shard?

"Beyond Good and Evil" also introduced Bishop’s sister, Shard, and they worked together and alongside the X-Men to defeat Apocalypse. At the end of the story, both siblings were left in the present. And as seen in X-Men ‘97’s trailer, Bishop is now a full member of the team.

That leaves Shard’s fate up in the air. Did she go back to the future? Or will she follow in the footsteps of her holographic clone from the comics and join Forge’s X-Factor team?

5. Will Cyclops and Havok ever discover that they’re brothers?

X-Men: The Animated Series took its time introducing the rest of the Summers family. Cyclops didn’t reunite with his father, Corsair, until "The Phoenix Saga." And he didn’t realize that Corsair was Christopher Summers until they met again in "Orphan’s End." Strangely enough, neither Corsair nor Cyclops brought up Scott’s younger brother, Alex Summers aka Havok.

Havok made his debut on the show in "Cold Comfort" alongside his teammates in X-Factor. Cyclops and Havok fought one-on-one, but they were shocked to discover that their powers didn’t work on each other. Regardless, they didn’t recognize that they were siblings and they parted on tense terms. If X-Factor ever returns again, this will presumably be an important part of that story. Yet that’s not the only lingering thread in the Summers family.

6. Why didn’t Jean Grey reveal the truth about Cable?

Cable--aka Nathan Christopher Summers--has a convoluted history in the comics, to say the least. The short version is that he's the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey who was created by Mr. Sinister. When he was an infant, Cable was infected with a techno-organic virus, which forced Cyclops to allow him to be taken into the future to be cured. Because of time travel, Cyclops and Jean had already met an older version of Cable months before Nathan was sent away.

The animated series lightly touches on this in "Time Fugitives Part II," when Jean reads Cable’s mind and discovers his connection to Scott and herself. Jean only told Scott that Cable was more important to their future than he could imagine. What she neglected to mention is that he’s their son, genetically speaking, of course.

There is a strong chance that this could be addressed in the first season of X-Men ‘97. Both Cable and Goblyn Queen--an evil version of Madelyne Pryor--are slated to appear. More importantly, Jean is visibly pregnant in the trailers for the series.

7. Will Charles Xavier return to Earth?

The final episode of the series, "Graduation Day," mirrored the events of Uncanny X-Men #200. Charles Xavier was gravely injured, to the point where only the Shi’ar had the technology to save his life. Xavier’s soulmate, Lilandra, answered the call to help and spirited him away without any guarantee that Charles would ever return.

In the comics, this was used as the rationale for Magneto joining the team as their new mentor, which he did at Xavier’s request. X-Men ‘97 appears to be following this path, and Magneto even has a new mask-less costume that resembles his outfit from this era. Eventually, Xavier did make his return to Earth in the comics and settled back into the mentor role while Magneto slipped back into misguided villainy.

The big question now is whether the creative team behind the show feels the need to follow the same course. If Charles Xavier is still alive, will he come back home to reunite with his team on Earth? Or will he stay in space and marry Lilandra? In animation, as in comics, the possibilities are endless.