After taking to social media to discuss his exit from Disney+’s X-Men ’97, Marvel has fired back at former showrunner Beau DeMayo. On his side, he claims that he was “stripped” of his Season 2 credits on the series due to a Pride Month post. On Marvel‘s side, the company released a statement noting that they severed ties with the creator after an internal investigation revealed “egregious” misconduct.
DeMayo had previously worked for Marvel writing and producing on the live-action Moon Knight, as well as working on a version of a script for Blade. Off of that, he was hired as showrunner for X-Men ’97, a continuation of the ’90s animated series X-Men: The Animated Series. After years in the works, DeMayo was abruptly let go by Marvel mere weeks before the premiere of the series. Neither DeMayo nor Marvel discussed the cause of the split, as well as whether DeMayo was let go, fired, or if it was the classic “creative differences” — though reports at the time stated that he had been fired.
At the time of DeMayo’s exit, he had already completed work on Season 1 of the series, Season 2 scripts were mostly written, and Season 3 was already being, in part, hashed out.
Then, last night (August 15), DeMayo posted that he had received word from Marvel that his credit had been stripped from Season 2.
“Firstly, I’m so grateful to have worked on #XMen97, collaborating with some amazingly talented folks,” DeMayo wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Creating this revival was a dream come true and the support fans have shown is so touching. However, I felt it pressing for me to speak up in the wake of leaving the show…”
DeMayo continued, sharing a piece of fanart created of him dressed as a shirtless version of the X-Men character Cyclops, which had been posted on Instagram on June 4 to celebrate Pride.
“Above is #XMen fan-art I posted on Instagram for Gay Pride in June,” DeMayo continued. “On June 13, #Marvel sent a letter notifying me that they’d stripped my Season 2 credits due to the post. Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while on working on #XMen97 and #Blade. I’ll have more to say soon but must take a step back from social media to find a safer space for me to be out, proud, and nerdy. Stay tuned.”
In the wake of posting the above, Marvel sent a statement to several outlets in response. “Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” said Marvel Studios. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
While the official statement doesn’t specifically address the removal of DeMayo’s Season 2 credits, sources have told Deadline and Variety that DeMayo was initially fired due to sexual misconduct. Comic Book Club has also heard various stories from sources about DeMayo’s conduct, both during his time working on X-Men ’97, as well as on Netflix’s The Witcher, but has been unable to determine the veracity of these findings by press time.
THR, meanwhile, elaborated that while, “an agreement was reached between the two parties over the issue of tweeting about the show, something that DeMayo had continued to occasionally do. In light of the breeches, his credit for season two was removed.”
What those breaches are was not specified in the article. However, in response to the press, DeMayo posted, “The truth will be revealed. 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.”
DeMayo seems to be referring to a lawsuit where Disney is arguing a man cannot sue them for the death of his wife, who died of an allergic reaction at Disney World in 2023, because he agreed to the terms laid out in the agreement for a free trial of Disney+.
Recently, DeMayo posted about Disney and Marvel not reaching out to him to attend the Emmy Awards, where X-Men ’97 was nominated for Best Animated Series. This year’s Emmys will be held on September 15, though the Creative Arts Emmys will be given out the weekend before, on Saturday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8. With tensions high, expect more on this story, soon.
Breeches are pants. Breaches are violations.
I mean I’m just quoting ’em.