Things were going so well for X-Men ’97. After a round of expertly pitched promotion that hit us right in the nostalgia, the Disney Plus animation looked set to be that rare thing these days: a Marvel Studios production free of any controversy. And then Marvel decided to fire its showrunner days before its premiere.
Executive producer Beau DeMayo was abruptly removed from the production in early March, despite having helmed not one but two seasons of the series and beginning work on a third. All planned press appearances, including his attendance at the premiere, were swiftly cancelled and DeMayo’s social media platforms went dark. Given that DeMayo was a reliable pair of hands for the studio, having previously worked on Moon Knight and Blade, the sudden firing was both shocking and mystifying. Producer Brad Winderbaum wouldn’t be drawn on the specifics when talking to Entertainment Weekly, only saying that DeMayo wasn’t so much fired as they “parted ways.”
Nevertheless, reports claim that a perhaps surprising side-hustle from the X-Men ’97 creator might have something to do with this sudden parting of the ways: was it really all to do with OnlyFans?
Marvel Studios reportedly found X-Men ’97 EP’s OnlyFans account “creepy”
As noted above, DeMayo was very active on social media prior to his firing, and he didn’t just post about Marvel. The writer/producer is known to have managed a personal OnlyFans account. Once the internet realized this it didn’t take long for the rumor to spread that Marvel had given DeMayo the boot simply because of his OnlyFans activity, perhaps because it didn’t fit with Disney’s family-friendly image.
Scooper Jeff “The Insneider” Sneider alleges that there was simply a breakdown in the working relationship between DeMayo and Marvel brass. While stressing that the showrunner was viewed as a “nice guy,” he was conversely “an absolute nightmare to deal with on a daily basis” and had been “really annoying” execs for “a while now.” Sneider suggests that it wasn’t so much creative differences that caused the split, just that DeMayo was seen as “really prickly and difficult to work with.”
That said, Sneider also claims that Disney bosses were none too pleased with DeMayo running his OnlyFans account on the side, as they found the behavior “creepy.” While this is just one report, a story of increased frustration does generally gel with what Winderbaum said about how the two parties “parted ways.” On the other hand, the swiftness of DeMayo’s removal and radio silence since does indicate that a specific incident may have occurred to precipitate the “firing.” To date, though, no information has emerged to suggest such a thing.
For an X-Men project to have a Black gay man at the helm was a notable development for the franchise, but Beau DeMayo’s mysterious vanishing act is equally notable, just for the wrong reasons. Will the show rise above its pre-release negative press? Only the fans can decide.
