Beau DeMayo claims Disney stripped his ‘X-Males ’97’ credit over LGBTQ publish

Beau DeMayo, the unique showrunner behind X-Males ’97, alleges that Disney did extra than simply fireplace him per week earlier than the sequence’ March premiere.

DeMayo wrote in an X publish on Thursday night that whereas he is “so grateful to have labored on #XMen97,” it is now “urgent for me to talk up within the wake of leaving the present.” DeMayo wrote that “on June 13, #Marvel despatched a letter notifying me that they’d stripped my season 2 credit” attributable to X-Males fan artwork he “posted on Instagram for Homosexual Delight in June.”

The June 4 publish featured an illustration of the X-Males character Cyclops shirtless, which DeMayo accompanied with a caption tagging and praising the creator, and including “Glad Delight!”

EW has reached out to representatives for DeMayo and Disney for remark.

A sequel to the beloved ’90s cartoon X-Males: The Animated Collection was first introduced in Nov. 2021. It’s the first X-Males title produced by Marvel Studios and was lauded for retaining the sequence’ distinct visible type and bringing again authentic voice actors like Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, and Alison Sealy-Smith. The White Lotus‘ Theo James was additionally forged in a shock “fan favourite” position that turned out to be the supervillain Bastion.

DeMayo was hooked up to the undertaking from the beginning, and informed EW a month earlier than the March 2024 premiere that he was already at work on season 2. Then, per week earlier than the sequence’ first episode launched on Disney+, the corporate fired DeMayo from the undertaking.

In an interview the identical week with EW, Brad Winderbaum, the top of streaming, tv, and animation at Marvel Studios, sketched out the essential information of the surprising personnel change. When requested if he makes use of the phrase “fireplace” to characterize DeMayo’s exit, he mentioned, “I do not. ‘We parted methods’ is the perfect I may most likely say.”

Winderbaum praised DeMayo’s contributions to the sequence, saying, “Beau had actual respect and keenness for these characters and wrote what I believe are glorious scripts that actually the remainder of the group have been ready to attract inspiration from [to] construct this wonderful present that is on display screen.”

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DeMayo broke his silence on social media in April, after the airing of X-Males ’97‘s fifth episode. “Lotta questions and so I will momentarily break silence to reply,” he wrote. “Episode 5 was the centerpiece of my pitch to Marvel in November 2020. The concept being to have the X-Males mirror the journey that any of us who grew up on the unique present have skilled since being youngsters within the ’90s.”

He went on to explain his try to depict a shift from a “easy” world the place “questions on identification and social justice had comparatively clear minimize solutions” to the world of the present, the place “issues weren’t so secure anymore.”

Neither social gathering has revealed the precise purpose why DeMayo was eliminated because the sequence’ showrunner. DeMayo’s Thursday publish solely addressed his credit score for the sequence’ upcoming second season allegedly being stripped by Disney.

DeMayo concluded his thread by writing, “I’ll have extra to say quickly however should take a step again from social media to discover a safer area for me to be out, proud, and nerdy. Keep tuned.”