We’re just a week away from the premiere of X-Men ’97, the highly anticipated relaunch of the beloved ’90s animated series, but in a shocking move, Marvel has fired creator Beau DeMayo.
THR reports that DeMayo was fired from X-Men ’97 last week, with his company e-mail immediately deactivated as cast and crew were informed that the creator was out of the picture. DeMayo’s Instagram account, which he frequently updated, has also been deleted. The reason behind the firing is unknown, as Marvel had no comment and DeMayo’s reps didn’t return calls. DeMayo had already completed work on the second season of X-Men ’97 and had even been brainstorming ideas for a potential third season, which makes his abrupt exit all the more mysterious.
DeMayo had previously worked with Marvel on the Moon Knight series and even had a hand in one of the early drafts of the Blade movie. He also wrote for The Witcher, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Originals, and more.
The original X-Men animated series spanned five seasons on Fox as part of the Fox Kids programming block, debuting in 1992 before it ended in 1997. The revival series will pick up right where the original left off. The official synopsis for the series reads: “X-Men ’97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.“
Some of the original voice cast will be returning to reprise their roles or voice new characters, including Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Christopher Britton as Mister Sinister, and more. It’s been over twenty-five years since the last episode of the series, and animation has certainly come a long way since then, but director Jake Castorena told Animation Magazine that it will still be the show you remember. “If we put too many bells and whistles and did all the new fancy things that we can do with technology, it wouldn’t be the show you remember,” he said. “It’s a lot about compositions and lenses, trying to adhere to what was cinematically being done at the time.” Executive producer Brad Winderbaum added that one trick involves putting a “small video transfer effect over the animation to give it a little bit of that television in the ’90s patina.“
The first two episodes of X-Men ’97 will premiere on Disney+ on March 20th.