It wouldn’t be a post-Endgame Marvel Studios project without the distinct whiff of some kind of controversy. From the implosion of Jonathan Majors’ Kang to the well-documented Blade delays, it seems like every MCU Multiverse Saga movie or show has faced some PR disaster or other. That even includes Marvel Animation’s jewel in the crown, X-Men ’97, thanks to the sudden and unceremonious firing of EP Beau DeMayo.
In an increasingly rare move for Marvel, the revival of X-Men: The Animated Series won both audience and critical acclaim when it hit Disney Plus this spring, with many championing the 10-part first season as the most intelligent, nuanced, and mature production the MCU has made for years. In fact, many were hoping that the brains behind it could be simply airlifted over to work on Marvel’s upcoming live-action X-Men reboot.
Unfortunately, that definitely isn’t in Gambit’s cards, as Marvel cut all ties with showrunner DeMayo earlier this year. The full story has yet to come to light, but there have certainly been many twists and turns in the tale to date. Here’s the full timeline, and before we dive in, a warning: just like the X-Men’s timeline, it’s a little messy.
Beau DeMayo was fired just 1 week prior to X-Men ’97‘s release
The nothing-but-good vibes for X-Men ’97 in the run-up to its release were tampered on March 13, 2024 when DeMayo was announced to have been fired by Marvel Studios with immediate effect just one week before the series pilot debuted on streaming. DeMayo wasn’t even invited to attend the premiere. Due to how far in advance Marvel makes its animated shows, X-Men ’97 season 2 had already been produced, but DeMayo’s plans for a third season were immediately junked along with him, leaving the commissioned third run in limbo (although we’ll come back to that in a bit).
Was OnlyFans the only reason?
Naturally, with no reason officially given, online detectives started working overtime to figure out the full story. It didn’t take long before folks realized that DeMayo had an OnlyFans account in which he shared, well, exactly what you would expect to see on an OnlyFans account. Rumors started circulating that Disney had a problem with his extracurricular activities, as it was felt they were at odds with the Mouse House’s family-friendly image. Social media suddenly became full of people complaining that firing an openly gay Black creator for expressing his sexuality was seriously not a good look for the company.
DeMayo is said to be an “absolute nightmare” to work with
In contrast, however, other sources claimed that Marvel may have had much more concrete reasons for severing ties with DeMayo. Scooper Jeff Sneider alleged that, although Marvel initially got on with the writer/producer and found him to be a “nice guy,” (which would explain his status as one of the many writers to hand in a draft for Blade), their working relationship ultimately soured beyond repair. Sneider shared that DeMayo became “an absolute nightmare to deal with on a daily basis” and had been “really annoying” execs for “a while now” due to how he was “really prickly and difficult to work with.”
X-Men ’97 season 3 showrunner is found
As X-Men ’97‘s popularity grew and grew with each passing week, DeMayo became increasingly more popular with the fan community, as he would frequently engage with fans on social media to answer questions and explain his creative thinking. This meant that when a replacement showrunner was announced for season 3 in June 2024, the new hire was immediately on the back foot with fans. Matthew Chauncey has been hired to fill DeMayo’s shoes, and despite — or maybe because of — his extensive MCU experience (he’s worked on What If…?, Ms. Marvel, and Thor: Love and Thunder), folks are convinced season 3 won’t be as good. “We lost so bad,” one commenter cried.
DeMayo reveals Marvel is removing his credit from season 2 due to saucy Cyclops post
Come August 2024, DeMayo elected to break his social media silence about all things having to do with this firing to share a surprising new twist in the ongoing drama. The scribe revealed that Marvel will remove his credit from X-Men ’97 season 2. He claims that this was a direct response to a piece of suggestive fan art he posted on his Instagram to celebrate Pride Month in June, which depicted DeMayo as a scantily clad Cyclops. “Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while on working on #XMen97 and #Blade,” DeMayo wrote, as well as teasing that he’ll “have more to say soon.”
Marvel slams DeMayo for “egregious” findings of internal investigation
And that he did, but first Marvel Studios had some things to say, too. In the first official response to his firing, Variety shared a statement from Marvel released in the wake of DeMayo’s latest tweets, which claimed that “Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation.” The studio continued that, “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
That was all Marvel was willing to say at this time, but it didn’t take long for DeMayo to hit back, appearing to dismiss the studio’s claims. “The truth will be revealed,” he tweeted. “After their Disney Plus disaster, Marvel wants to mislead with alleged contract breaches over tweets. It’s tragic it’s come to this but unsurprising. Stay tuned.”
So, why did Marvel really fire DeMayo? Whether it’s true or not, it seems that X-Men ’97 fans have already made their minds up about the reason, in lieu of the full facts. As one reply summarized, “Beau was fired because he is apart of the LGBTQ+ community and he likes expressing it and Disney wasn’t a fan of that.” X-Men ’97 returns for its second season in 2025 and season 1 is available on Disney Plus now.
Published: Aug 16, 2024 01:37 pm