Earlier this week, the news broke that Marvel Studios had fired X-Men '97 showrunner Beau DeMayo. No reason was given and fans have been left to speculate why he'd be dumped from the show right before the X-Men: The Animated Series' revival begins its press tour.
Variety (via Toonado.com) has run an interesting piece on X-Men '97 and asked executive producer Brad Winderbaum about DeMayo's shock dismissal.
"He did excellent work writing Seasons 1 and 2, and I can’t wait for fans to see the series," he told the trade. "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," Winderbaum concluded.
Honestly, that statement might as well have been written by Disney's PR team (and very well might have been). The site adds that they had an interview scheduled with DeMayo for its story, only for that to be postponed on March 4 due to him being "under the weather." It was then cancelled two days later.
Needless to say, something strange is going on and the truth is bound to come out eventually.
Talking to the trade before DeMayo's firing was made public, original showrunner Eric Lewald said, "We love and respect Beau DeMayo for taking on this job. He’s one of those superfans who knows our show better than we do. He said, 'We want it to be an extension. We want it to be like the next episode of the show that all of us on staff love and grew up with.'"
"They could have done a spinoff or a different character or team, and yet they chose to be an extension of our show, which just is ridiculously gratifying to us."
DeMayo is thought to have concluded his work on the first two seasons of X-Men '97 and had been discussing season 3 before being fired. He's yet to issue any sort of statement about his MCU departure.
A new TV spot for X-Men '97 has also been released which you can check out in the players below.
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.