Former X-Men '97 head writer and executive producer Beau DeMayo has publicly elaborated on his strained relationship with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and the broader MCU leadership, citing a series of professional slights and creative disagreements that culminated in his termination.
DeMayo, who was fired from the animated series just days before its premiere in March 2024 amid allegations of "egregious misconduct" tied to his OnlyFans account, has since addressed these issues in a candid thread on X. Responding to a follower's inquiry about his confidence in Marvel Studios' handling of the upcoming "Mutant Saga" in the MCU, DeMayo expressed skepticism, outlining what he perceives as a lack of coherent planning and respect for the X-Men legacy.
"Ugh, a follower asked me if I had faith in @MarvelStudios Mutant Saga and I clicked away and lost the message so hopefully they see this, but also I get asked this a lot so I wanted to make a larger post that may piss some of you off. I’m sorry in advance," DeMayo began. "First, the X-Men are so much bigger than any one creative, myself included. Would I have loved to write, direct, steer the live action films? Of course. But I have great faith that there are amazing artists out there who have amazing visions and stories to tell with the X-Men."
"Now, do I have faith in the MCU’s Mutant Saga? Short answer: Not yet, no. And let me walk through why so you don’t think I’m just being a hater," he continued. "X-Men requires planning, deep planning to pull them off and make them resonate. You also have to be very mindful of how you’re laying out their story, and the way in which audiences will experience the story. You also need to suppress your ego to 'make it your own' and focus on meeting the mutants on THEIR terms, which means deeply respecting their canon and the emotional investment that fans have in that canon."
DeMayo then critiqued the MCU's initial introductions to mutant characters, pointing to inconsistencies and what he described as ego-driven decisions. "With this in mind, this is the start of @MarvelStudios Mutant Saga: A retcon and musical sting in Ms Marvel that she’s now somehow a mutant. Literally, our first intro to the X-Men in the MCU is not one of the decades worth of mutants but a YA retcon that Kevin forced onto the franchise to 'make it his own' and out the 'MCU spin.' And it is a tease and retcon that they still have not paid off."
He further elaborated: "To the above, for DECADES X-Men fans have waited for teenage mutants like Jubilee and Kitty Pryde to get their justice and due in film. Kevin knows this, but just like Fox shoved a teenage retcon’d Rogue down our throats, Kevin and Marvel are shocked Khan down our throats when far more interesting mutants would do. It’s a fuck you to fans, and having been in the room with these guys it is absolutely all ego. Even having a newly cast Jubilee show up at the end of Ms Marvel to recruit her would’ve been better than the instantly forgettable tag we got."
DeMayo highlighted other examples, including Professor X's cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where the character is killed off, and Beast's appearance in The Marvels. "A weird nostalgia cameo of Professor X in Doctor Strange 2 that used the animated series sting, where Kevin thought it’d be fresh and cool to see the revered leader and activist visionary of the X-Men’s entire creed get brutally murdered…AGAIN," he wrote. "Next, Monica Rambeau somehow finding herself transported back to meet Beast from THE WORST X-MEN movie ever made. Add that these two characters have ZERO history or irony to having met one another in the same way that say Nick Fury coming to meet Tony Stark had in Phase 1. All the tags in Phase 1 begged a clear exciting story — the creation of the Avengers. What the hell does Beast and Monica tease? Nothing. It’s just a desperate play to make us care. Want a better tag? What if the film ended with Monica or Carol waking up to meet….Anna Paquin’s Rogue? Now THAT does what the MCU’s phase one tags did."
He also took aim at Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World: "the retries of Wolverine and Deadpool from the Fox franchise that the MCU and Kevin had zero to do with, to tell a fan-pandering story of Reddit-wishlists that seemed to say farewell to the Fox universe. Again. And yet again, the MCU being like Fox in this lazy reliance on Wolverine as the face of the X-Men. A contrived MacGuffin plot of adamantium in Captain America Brave New World that has amounted to nothing, and begs timeline questions where I guess Ms Marvel is a mutant before Wolverine entered Weapon X. Lastly, all the Fox characters we thought were gone and dead, are being brought out YET AGAIN to manufacture artificial interest and distract from Kevin and @MarvelStudios decade long flailing of frequent failures."
Continuing the thread, DeMayo questioned the overall approach: "Like, I don’t mean to be a hater, but who looks at this and says this is the care and respect and serious thinking that the X-Men characters deserve? Hell, who looks at this and says this is competent leadership from a studio that is in no way alarming? Kevin is introducing new concepts like adamantium and mutant Ms Marvel while simultaneously recycling old Fox characters all before telling us they’re going to reboot everything anyways? Like, what the fuck?"
DeMayo also accused Feige of resenting X-Men '97's success, claiming it highlighted MCU shortcomings. "Yep. I was told this in a phone call after Ep 5 premiered. I asked the exec if Kevin was happy, because stupidly I still wanted to help the studio out," he shared. "There response was a long pause, and then I was told that he’d be 'happier' if fans and audiences weren’t using it as a referendum on what the MCU needs to be doing to fix itself. What makes it worse I think is that Kevin has nothing to do with #xmen97 and could take no credit for it. Even internally, before the show aired, Marvel employees were reaching out to me asking how I was able to make a show this good given where the studio was, and how it’s the best thing the studio had done. With their praise I noticed more and more that I was becoming a threat and regret to studio leadership."
He added details about perceived lack of support: "And again, Kevin and Lou couldn’t even be bothered to come to the premiere of the show at the El Capitan. They didn’t show up to thank the fans. They didn’t show up to thank @xmentas, the Lewald’s and Houston or the OG voice cast, for how they built that foundation back in the 90s of the MCU. Nope we were just a little cartoon that wasn’t sexy enough or taken seriously enough to warrant that great Kevin Feige to attend."
DeMayo identified additional "final straws," including the studio's refusal to fund a wrap party. "One of the many final straws for me was was Kevin and the studio leadership not attending the premiere to thank or show support for the cast and crew who busted their ass working 7 days a week for 3 years to make the show what it was," he stated. "And, also the studio declining to do a wrap party to celebrate the show’s success in May. Who paid 7k out of his one pocket for the wrap party for the crew? That would be me."
In response to criticisms regarding his OnlyFans account, DeMayo referenced a previously posted video statement from February addressing his firing.
DeMayo further criticized Marvel's internal culture, describing "Kevin’s 'parliament'" as a committee of executives providing endless notes without deep familiarity with projects. "Part of @MarvelStudios problem is below. Kevin’s 'parliament'. A committee of executives who give endless notes on projects, even if they are not familiar with the project. Luckily, Kevin and Parliament didn’t care much about #xmen97 so I never received notes from them. It’s one of the reasons I think my team and I were able to pull off what we did. We weren’t making a show by committee," he explained.
Despite these tensions, X-Men '97 received widespread acclaim upon its release, reviving interest in the classic animated series and earning praise for its faithful adaptation and emotional depth.
X-Men '97 Season 2 is slated to air on Disney+ in 2026.
