Ahead of the first season’s release, X-Men '97 creator Beau DeMayo was fired by Marvel Studios following an internal investigation that revealed “egregious findings.” A new showrunner, Matthew Chauncey, known for his work on What If…?, was brought in for Season 3 in July. Although DeMayo had completed his work in the second season, the scripts were reportedly revised to align with the direction Chauncey would take. As Season 2 is now in production and Season 3 is in development, X-Men '97 director Emi/Emmett Yonemura teases “amazing” changes in the third season with Chauncey on board.
In a talk with ScreenRant, Yonemura opened up on the new creative direction they would take in X-Men '97 Season 3. Though they didn’t reveal much about the new season, they talked about their exciting experience working with Chauncey.
“Oh, he's lovely. I absolutely love working with him,” they said.
Though they had just started working together recently, Yonemura already found Chauncey to be a “super sweet and talented writer.” In fact, they were already having a blast in creating new episodes, and they couldn’t wait for fans to see what Chauncey was about to bring forth.
“I'm really excited for fans to kind of see what he helps bring to the table because it's amazing,” Yonemura continued. “He's a genius.”
How will Matthew Chauncey’s work in X-Men '97 Season 3 differ from Beau DeMayo’s first two seasons?
X-Men '97 Season 2 will pick up where the first season ended. The X-Men have been sent across different timelines, with Cyclops and Jean Grey ending up in 3960 A.D. and Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto finding themselves in 3000 BC Egypt. However, the whereabouts of Storm, Wolverine, and Morph are yet to be revealed.
So, in the second season, fans can expect Forge, who is working on building a new group of mutants, to team up with Bishop to bring their fellow X-Men back to the present timeline. Evidently, the first season was made with a second season in mind to continue its story, considering DeMayo created both. But as DeMayo’s work for the show had already ended, X-Men '97 Season 3 may feature a whole new storyline to give way to Chauncey’s new creative direction.
However, Deadline previously reported that the Season 2 scripts were revised to blend their narrative with Season 3. Therefore, it remains to be seen how the third season will differ, and fans should take this assumption with a grain of salt. It also didn’t reveal if Chauncey had started working on the revised Season 2 scripts, though his work for Season 3 is said to be in active development.
With a new showrunner, fans will have to see how Marvel connects X-Men '97 Season 2’s story with Chauncey’s Season 3. Given the incredible success of the first season, many hope the subsequent installments will be just as good.
