X-Men ’97 premiered on Disney+ on March 20, 2024, and quickly earned praise from both critics and audiences. The series has been renewed for multiple seasons, with production already underway for Season 2 and development in progress for Season 3. However, in the lead-up to the premiere, Marvel Studios dismissed series creator Beau DeMayo from his writing role and replaced him with Matthew Chauncey for Season 3.
Months after the firing, DeMayo has finally addressed the situation, alleging that his dismissal was related to his sharing of X-Men fan art on Instagram during Pride Month. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), DeMayo expressed his gratitude for working on X-Men ’97, describing the project as “a dream come true.” He then revealed that he felt compelled to speak out following his departure from the show, including a screenshot of the Instagram post in question.
DeMayo continued in the next post, “Above is [X-Men] fan-art I posted on Instagram for Gay Pride in June. 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 [X-Men ’97] and Blade.”
In the third post, DeMayo mentioned that he was taking a break from social media. “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,” he concluded.
Marvel responds to Beau DeMayo’s allegations
In response to DeMayo’s allegations, A Marvel spokesperson said that DeMayo was fired after an internal investigation.
“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” the statement read. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel,” it added.
Although the studio did not elaborate on the matter, Deadline reported that as per Marvel sources, the investigation happened because DeMayo was accused of sexual misconduct, and the violation of his separation agreement with the company led to the removal of his credits from the sophomore season.
