X-Men ’97 creator reportedly fired by Marvel weeks before premiere

Marvel Studios has fired Beau DeMayo, the creator of the upcoming animated Disney Plus series X-Men ’97, according to The Hollywood Reporter. De Mayo previously produced and wrote for another Marvel show, Moon Knight, and has also worked on The Witcher, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The firing reportedly occurred early last week, and neither Marvel nor DeMayo’s representatives commented on the decision to the outlet. Marvel has also not responded to The Verge’s request for comment.

The timing of DeMayo’s departure is unusual, given that X-Men ’97 is set to premiere on Disney Plus roughly a week from now, on March 20th. DeMayo is credited as the creator and executive producer of the show’s entire first season. He had even finished writing duties on an upcoming second season of X-Men ’97 and was in talks with his team about a third, THR reported. 

X-Men ’97 continues the storyline of X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired from 1992 to 1997. Several of the original voice actors returned for the new series, including Lenore Zann (who plays Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), Chris Britton (Mr. Sinister), and Chris Potter (Gambit). 

DeMayo appears to have deleted his Instagram account, which featured regular updates about his work with Marvel. Also no longer active is his free, non-explicit OnlyFans account, which DeMayo created before his involvement with X-Men ’97.