X-Men ’97 head writer Beau DeMayo has opened up about the pressure of responsibility that comes with bringing back one of the most esteemed X-Men works for Marvel Studios.
DeMayo, who served as a writer for the current Disney Plus series Moon Knight as well as Netflix’s The Witcher and The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, noted the weight that comes with being put in charge of an IP of X-Men’s caliber, and the respectful treatment with which Marvel Studios treats its animated properties, of which X-Men ’97 will be.
Speaking to The Direct, DeMayo said, “I know in some studios, animation is treated like the red-headed stepchild and, honestly, What If…? and Marvel’s other animated series are treated just as seriously as their live-action properties,” said DeMayo. “And X-Men, in particular, is something that is very close to Marvel Studios’ hearts, now that it’s back home at the studio. So that has been different.”
“It’s just like, X-Men means something to a lot of people. There’s a weight and a responsibility there, I think, now that it’s back at Marvel Studios, that is very different, and that I’m always aware of.”
“There have been several moments where I’m like, ‘Someone needs to figure this out—oh, it’s me now.’”
The pressure DeMayo feels is not unfounded; X-Men ’97 will be continuing where 1992’s X-Men: The Animated Series left off, and matching similar levels of acclaim that the original series did will be no easy feat. What’s more, even though it’s not yet clear how much it will be informed by Marvel’s mainline live-action properties or vice versa, it will nevertheless be the studio’s first foray into the world of X-Men, a property that fans have long awaited the Marvel Studio’s debut for.
X-Men ’97 will release to Disney Plus sometime in 2023.
