Marvel and X-Men ’97’s Creator Have Mysteriously Parted Ways

Marvel is having its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama as of late, and one of its most anticipated new releases is no exception. Just over a week before X-Men ‘97, the continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, hits Disney+, Marvel Studios has abruptly fired its creator, Beau DeMayo.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that DeMayo had completed work on a second season of X-Men ‘97—which will pick up where the beloved ‘90s animated series left off when it concluded in 1997—and was colloquially planning ideas for a third when Marvel suddenly fired the writer-producer early last week. DeMayo was preparing to conduct press tours and attend the series’ premiere this week, and now will no longer do either (something that THR further notes is highly unusual, even with creatives Marvel has parted ways with in the process of writing and re-writing its output).

DeMayo had previously worked on the Moon Knight Disney+ series as well as on early drafts of the regularly retooled and delayed Blade reboot, but was most closely associated with his work on ‘97. He’s been a champion of the series’ mutant metaphor and his relationship to the X-Men as a queer black man, and a consistent source of news and updates about the revival in the long years between its announcement and its impending premiere.

Just what impact DeMayo’s departure will have on X-Men ‘97‘s future remains to be seen, given that he had already completed work on at least one future season, but the timing of his shock departure, even as this sort of drama becomes more regular as Marvel retools its future plans, couldn’t have come at a worst time for a series the studio has a lot riding on.

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