Marvel Legends fans get disappointing X-Men ’97 Wave 3 update

Fans of X-Men ’97 hoping for a Wave 3 of new figures from the Marvel Legends will have to wait a little bit longer.

The Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 releases have already proven to be a hit with fans. 12 figures hit stores a little early thanks to a late-game delay on the series but have been eagerly snapped up by collectors, with many loving the line’s animated stylings.

Fans have been hoping to get a third wave to round out the team, but Marvel Legends marketer Dan Yun has dashed those hopes, confirming there will not be a Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Wave 3 released in 2024.

“I love X-Men 97!” Yun said on his Twitter/X account. “Our team LOVES X-Men. Setting expectations tho, we aren’t going to have a ‘wave 3’ this year.”

There’s naturally a sense of disappointment from fans in the comments whose favorite characters are missing. The first two waves contained a slew of fan favorites, with Wave 1 including Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Bishop, and Magneto in his original costume. Wave 2 featured Cyclops, Jean Grey, Goblin Queen, X-Cutioner, Nightcrawler, and Magneto in his second costume.

That still leaves a lot of big names on the table. As fans pointed out, Bishop, Jubilee, Sunspot, The Beast, and Bastion are notably missing and haven’t received a current Legends release in some time. This means not only is there no way to round out a completed team as seen on the show, but it’s also a difficult, if not impossible, task to acquire the older figures.

Yun does note that the team is currently working on figures to be released in 2025 and 2026 and doesn’t rule out the possibility of additional X-Men ’97 figures down the road. So far 2024 has seen Legends release a slew of highly requested figures, including Wolverine in his Astonishing X-Men costume and a Danny Ketch Ghost Rider deluxe figure.

While inventory is becoming scarce, several figures from the previous two X-Men ’97 waves are still available on Amazon or, if you’re lucky, may be warming the pegs at your local Walmart.