Right as Marvel Studios was gearing up for X-Men '97's world premiere, the trades confirmed that Disney had fired showrunner Beau DeMayo. He'd overseen development on the first two seasons of Marvel Animation's X-Men: The Animated Series revival and was among the writers to try their hand at sorting out Blade's screenplay.
We've since heard a few different explanations for DeMayo's dismissal, but in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Toonado.com), Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, shared something of a clarification.
"I can't talk about the details," he confessed, "but I can say that Beau had real respect and passion for these characters and wrote what I think are excellent scripts that really the rest of the team were able to draw inspiration from [to] build this amazing show that's on screen."
Asked if he would consider DeMayo's MCU departure a firing, Winderbaum replied, "I don't. 'We parted ways' is the best way I could say."
Anyone hoping for specifics from Marvel Studios about what went on behind the scenes will likely be disappointed as there's clearly something of a company line being followed here. Earlier this week, the Marvel exec shared similar sentiments when he said, "[DeMayo] did excellent work writing seasons 1 and 2, and I can’t wait for fans to see the series."
"The entire team came together to create a revival worthy of the X-Men’s 60-year legacy. From Stan and Jack, to Claremont, to the Lewalds, we all truly were standing on the shoulders of giants."
The site did, however, push Winderbaum for details on what all this means for the planned third season of X-Men '97.
"I've now seen versions of animatics for the entire second season," he reveals. "Obviously, when you're in that stage, there's a lot of work to do. It's editorial, but it's also still iterative because there's still story to be worked out when you put it on its feet in that way. We're going to start development on the third season very soon."
"And, yeah, we're trying to figure out who is going to be that voice on the page, but luckily - that's going to come as a surprise - there's many talented X-Men fans, excellent writers."
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.
X-Men '97 is set to premiere on Disney+ on March 20.