‘X-Men ‘97’ Reveals Theo James’ Mystery Villain with Big OZT Bombshell

As X-Men ’97 so clearly demonstrates week after week, it ain’t easy being a mutant. Even while in the middle of grieving, dealing with an instant genocide on a peaceful nation, and searching breathlessly for just one more survivor, the X-Men cannot catch a break. The hate and hurt keep on comin’ — and now, after Episode 7, “Bright Eyes,” we have a face to pin all the blame on. That face? Well, he’s got the same smile as the Purple People Eater.

No no no, the X-Men aren’t battling the Brotherhood of Evil Novelty Song Creatures. They’re up against something called OZT. This mystery organization ain’t just ready to make their move, either. They’ve been moving and shaking all season long, and it looks like we’re about to see them really step into the spotlight as the season enters the home stretch.

So, what is OZT? Who is this Purple People Eater superfan? Why is he playing Cindy Crawford to Magneto’s k.d. lang? And what does White Lotus and The Gentlemen star Theo James have to do with all this? We have, surprisingly enough, got very thorough answers to most (but not all) of those questions! Theories, explanations, and possible SPOILERS ahead!

What is OZT?

In “Bright Eyes,” we get the X-Men’s first run-ins with a highly classified government organization called “OZT.” Those three letters are on patches on all the armed guards that Rogue tears through at a desert installation, and she sees the letters on computer screens at an abandoned facility.

What do those three letters stand for?

Operation: Zero Tolerance.

“Operation: Zero Tolerance” was the name of 1997’s major, line-wide X-Men crossover comic book event. It put Marvel’s mutants up against the most insidious government plot ever. Using Prime Sentinels, a.k.a. Sentinel tech grafted onto/into human hosts, Operation: Zero Tolerance (also the name of the in-universe initiative) was able to get the jump on high-profile mutant targets. And since Prime Sentinels were outfitted with the most advanced tech around, tech capable of adapting to mutant powers almost instantaneously, the ambushes all pretty much worked. The A-list X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Cannonball) were all captured immediately, leaving erstwhile hero Iceman to save the day alongside a truly ragtag bunch of non-X-Men (trauma surgeon Dr. Cecilia Reyes, mutant terrorist Marrow, Officer Charlotte Jones of the NYPD, and Mossad agent Sabra).

Oh — and just look at “Operation: Zero Tolerance’s” publication date: 1997. And the final three episodes of X-Men ’97 Season 1 are three parts of the same story: “Tolerance is Extinction.” We really, really should have seen this coming.

Who is the Purple People Eater?

Okay, he’s not code-named Purple People Eater. His name is Bastion, and there’s a reason why he has an affinity for that weird pop song from the ’50s: Bastion evolved from a flying, lavender, mutant hunter.

We actually got a glimpse of Bastion way back in X-Men ’97 Episode 4, “Motendo/Lifedeath — Part 1.” If you look closely, you can see the side of Bastion in a photo in Forge’s shop, next to Forge and geneticist Dr. Adler.

As Forge explains later, he was part of the early days of the government’s mutant control initiative, an initiative that ultimately led to the creation of the inhibitor collar and, much later, the gun that robbed Storm of her powers. But Forge is a good guy now. I mean, he did cover up Bastion in that picture!

We first see Bastion in “Bright Eyes” when he creeps in Henry Gyrich’s room, where the bespectacled bigot/bureaucrat is recovering from Rogue’s attack. With his jam of choice dialed in on the radio, Bastion slides his hands over Gyrich’s nose and mouth and ties up this loose end.

We next see him from behind and in silhouette during a conversation with Mister Sinister, where his origin is alluded to. When Bastion throws shade at all the X-Men’s ’92 class of villains, Sinister claps back, “You were one of those villains once.” And then there’s the last scene of the episode, which… I’ll get to in a bit.

What is Bastion?

In the comics, Bastion is a highly — okay, magically — evolved iteration of Nimrod, which is itself a model of Sentinel from the far-off year of 2013. It was 1980 at the time, okay? Let’s just say “a model of Sentinel from 33 years in the future.” That version of the future just so happens to be the one seen in the iconic X-Men storyline “Days of Future Past.”

So yeah — in the comics, Nimrod merged with the original Master Mold (the giant robot that makes all the Sentinels) and fought the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #247). In order to defeat Nimrod/Master Mold, Rogue — and oh my god am I not going to go into what was up with Rogue at this point in the comics — dive-bombed this hell-robot through the Siege Perilous. What’s the Siege Perilous? It’s a… mystical, mythical gem gifted to the X-Men by Roma, daughter of Merlin (yes, that Merlin). The gem contains a portal that allows anyone who passes through it to be karmically evaluated and reborn into the world in new state of being. Bastion is what Nimrod/Master Mold became after traveling through the portal.

The TL;DR is that Bastion is the result of two highly-powerful killer robots being fused together and reconstructed on a cellular level by ancient, ancient magic. Your next question: Why are the X-Men like this? That, I cannot answer.

As X-Men ’97 is wont to do, it’s incredibly likely that we’re going to see an incredibly streamlined version of animated Bastion’s origin in the coming weeks. We already met the Nimrod from the cartoon’s “Days of Future Past” timeline way back in Season 1.

The show can easily say that this is the same Nimrod, just with a major glow-up. I mean, look at that goatee. Rad upgrade, dude!

Who plays Bastion on X-Men ’97?

Bastion is voiced by Theo James, who you may remember from HBO’s White Lotus or as the lead of Netflix’s recent hit series The Gentlemen. Or maybe you just remember the “donkey-sized” penis prosthetic he sported on White Lotus!

Why is Bastion giving Magneto a shave?

I… I don’t know. I mean, the 1993 Vanity Fair cover featuring supermodel Cindy Crawford giving queer crooner k.d. lang a very close shave was an iconic ’90s moment. It could be that.

It could be that Bastion is giving Magneto a makeover to try to put a spin on another late ’90s X-Men story: Magneto’s “Joseph” era. In the comics, a seemingly amnesiac, fresh-faced Magneto calling himself Joseph joined the team for a bit. Then… a lot happened but there is no need to add all that to this post, too. This explainer already has Merlin in it.

But to be honest, I don’t think there’s a Joseph storyline here. I honestly think this is just Bastion exerting a lot of power over Magneto. Think about it: Magneto is fresh off a genocide and Bastion has got him in an inhibitor collar, holding a metal razor at his throat, and making him listen to Sheb Wooley’s #1 hit song from 1958. That’s torture, mama.

One thing is for sure: Bastion is the villain of the moment, and he’s showing zero tolerance.

New episodes of X-Men ’97 premiere on Disney+ on Wednesdays.