Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for X-Men ‘97.
At the beginning of its three-part finale,X-Men ‘97debuted a deadly and dangerous variant of the mutant-hunting Sentinels known as Prime Sentinels. The Sentinels were already formidable, but the Prime Sentinels offer a horrifying twist to the longtime X-Men foes. They are the creation of Sebastion Gilberti, aka Bastion (Theo James), a hybrid of a human child and the advanced sentinel from the future, Nimrod. Created from human experimentation,the Prime Sentinels are ordinary humans who have been infected with a type of nanotechnologythat overwrites their human memories and personalities, making them covert sleeper agents who are virtually undetectable and capable of striking at any moment. So, how do the animated Prime Sentinels stack up against their comic counterparts?
A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
The Prime Sentinels First Debuted in ‘Operation: Zero Tolerance’
The Prime Sentinels debuted inthe multipart crossover event,Operation: Zero Tolerance, which ran intheX-Mencomicsin 1997. Taking place in the aftermath of theOnslaught Saga, the X-Men are unfairly blamed for Onslaught’s actions and the deaths of many of the world’s greatest heroes, including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Professor Charles Xavier turns himself into government custody due to his connection tothe Onslaught incident. The recent assassination of presidential candidate Graydon Creed also increases public distrust in mutants, enabling Henry Peter Gyrich and Bastion to initiate the Operation Zero Tolerance Protocol.The X-Men are branded as terrorists and hunted downby Bastion and his paramilitary force of Prime Sentinels.
The Prime Sentinels in the comics operate much in the same way as they do inX-Men ‘97. They are humans that have been infected with a type of nanotechnology, which overwrites their memories and individual personalities. Thiseffectively transforms them into mutant-hunting instruments of death, all subservient and under Bastion’s control, with Bastion recognized as the “prime unit.” While the previous Sentinel models were large, lumbering robots, the Prime Sentinels are smaller, more agile, faster, and more maneuverable than their predecessors thanks to their human bodies. Prime Sentinels have no individuality of their own, and they are singlemindedly programmed to detect, hunt down, neutralize, or even exterminate mutants.
In the comics, Bastion himself isa highly advanced AI being. He is part-Nimrod, a highly advanced Sentinel from an alternate future timeline, and part-Master Mold, the AI Sentinel program and master computer Sentinel robot created by Bolivar Trask (Gavin Hammon). As such,the Prime Sentinels are likely based on Nimrod’s highly advanced future technology. This makes Prime Sentinels far deadlier and more dangerous than regular Sentinels. As sleeper agents, it appears they can avoid detection from highly advanced and powerful mutants, including those who have powerful telepathic and psionic abilities. Even a dead human body can transform into a Prime Sentinel. They are capable of flight, and they are armed with deadly laser weaponry. Given enough time, Prime Sentinels are also capable of negating mutant powers.
‘X-Men ‘97’ Tweaks the Prime Sentinels’ Origins
The Prime Sentinels inX-Men ‘97appear to operate and work much the same way as they do in the comics. However,X-Men ‘97revealsthey run on a strain of the techno-virus, which first appeared in Season 2 ofX-Men: The Animated Series. It was a plague designed by Apocalypse that was initially deadly to humans and would threaten the mutant race. Cable, Bishop, and the X-Men helped put a stop to Apocalypse’s plans and created a cure; however, the techno-virus later resurfaced in Episode 3 ofX-Men ‘97, when Mr. Sinister (Christopher Britton) infected Cyclops’ (Ray Chase)infant son, Nathan, with the virus, forcing Cyclops to send the baby to the future with Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) to possibly seek treatment. (The infant child would grow up to becomethe mutant soldier, Cable(Chris Potter).) However, Mr. Sinister likely acquired the techno-virus when he worked with Apocalypse inX-Men: The Animated Series, and he later collaborates with Bastion inX-Men ‘97to both acquire Trask’s Sentinel tech and designs to create the new Prime Sentinels, using a strain of the techno-virus.
Mr. Sinister was not involved in creating the Prime Sentinels in the comics, and Bastion would not use the more advanced techno-virus to upgrade the Prime Sentinels until later stories.The original Prime Sentinel models have cybernetic nanotech implants, but they still work much the same way as sleeper agents. Once Bastion sends them a signal through the network, the humans who have been implanted lose all individuality and reason, becoming Prime Sentinels. Bastion and Sinister also use anti-mutant humans they recruited from dial-up chatrooms as their test subjects and human guinea pigs. Of course, Bastion neglects to tell them that their Prime Sentinel implantation effectively acts as brainwashing and a potential death sentence. As Bastion explains in Episode 8, “I omit the more technical details, but they know they’re joining something far greater than themselves.” The infected humans are restored to their daily lives, with their memories of visiting Bastion erased, waiting to strike at his behest.
What makesthese Prime Sentinelseven more formidable is their capability of regeneration. Even when Wolverine (Cal Dodd) and Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) slice them into ribbons, they can reattach their limbs and self-repair, which makes the animated Prime Sentinels extremely difficult to kill and deactivate. It’s not until Magneto (Matthew Waterson) intervenes that he’s able to deactivateall the Prime Sentinels in Episode 8. The nanotech also allows the Prime Sentinels to create cybernetic appendages that can extend from their bodies and act as tools or weapons. This ability is closer to the Omega Prime Sentinels, which were a scrapped prototype of the next evolutionary step of the Sentinels featured in the comics. Regardless,the Prime Sentinels are truly deadlier than any Sentinelthe X-Men have ever faced.
In the Comics, Prime Sentinels Give Way to Even More Evil
Eventually, in the comics, the federal government and S.H.I.E.L.D. opt to shut down Operation Zero Tolerance, and Bastion is taken into custody. Bastion does attempt to create even more Sentinel variants, such as the Omega Prime Sentinels andthe anti-mutant Human High Council. The Human High Council is made up of various anti-mutant fanatics who have been adversaries to the X-Men in the past, such as William Stryker, Graydon Creed, Cameron Hodge, and Bolivar Trask, all of whom have appeared in eitherX-Men: The Animated SeriesorX-Men ‘97. Using a strain of the techno-virus, the members of the Human High Council gain various unique techno-organic abilities, making them deadlier than ever before,so there is potential down the line for future storylines involving Bastion and further Sentinel variants.
New episodes ofX-Men ‘97debut on Wednesday on Disney+. The first season will conclude with “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 3” debuting on May 15.
