The director of X-Men '97 explained the decision behind the subtle cameo appearance of The Watcher in the fifth episode.
The beloved What If...? character briefly showed up moments before the attack on Genosha. Since he is not allowed to intervene, he was only observing the devastating events that happened.
Since the episode's airing, a lot of fans have been wondering whether the character's appearance has any meaning regarding the future of the series or if it's just simply an easter egg.
Also Read: X-Men '97 Director Addresses Captain America's Upcoming Appearance
The Watcher Cameo in X-Men '97 Episode 5 Addressed by Director
In a recent interview, X-Men '97 director Jake Castorena opened up about the subtle cameo appearance of The Watcher and explained how it all came about.
He revealed that the idea of including The Watcher in the episode came from the show's production designer, Anthony Wu.
"I say this all the time, but it always ends up coming down to an insanely monumental team effort to get everything across and executed. And to that point, The Watcher! Shout out to Anthony Wu, our production designer," he explained.
"He went in there and said, 'I'm gonna go paint this' and then we said, 'Oh! We missed it the first time you put it in there!' It's like, oh cool."
Is The Watcher in X-Men '97 the Same as the MCU Version?
Castorena also addressed whether the version of The Watcher in the series is the same as the one that we've seen in What If...?
"The Watcher is definitely part of OG canon because Watcher made cameos in the original show," he said.
"Thanks Larry [Houston, director of X-Men: The Animated Series]! I'm not saying it is or it isn't The Watcher is from the MCU because stuff changes all the time."
The director added, "As of this point, you know, the MCU, they have their own Watcher. They have that version of The Watcher. And also, Watcher transcends time, space and relevancy. So, that's our Watcher. It's their Watcher. It's a Watcher."
There's definitely a lot of intrigue with the inclusion of The Watcher in the series although it sounds like it won't have any hindrance to the narrative and he is simply just an easter egg to the Marvel canon.
However, we can expect some cameo appearances from other well-known Marvel characters in the upcoming episodes that should make a lot of fans excited.
New episodes of X-Men '97 premiere every Wednesday on Disney+.
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