Last month, we got word that Marvel Studios had fired X-Men '97 showrunner Beau DeMayo just days before the animated revival series was set to premiere on Disney+.
DeMayo deleted his social media accounts shortly after, but recently returned to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on this week's devastating fifth episode, "Remember It."
The writer has already responded to some fans, confirming that he always intended this particular episode to mirror real-world tragedies such as 9/11, Charlottesville, Tulsa, and the Pulse nightclub shootings in order to better illustrate how dangerous the world has become for so many people, and that even a seemingly "safe space" like the mutant haven of Genosha can come under attack and completely alter the course of multiple lives.
Now, DeMayo has shared a much more in-depth, thoughtful take on this arc and what it could mean for the mutant heroes going forward.
“Like many of us who grew up on the OG cartoon, the X-Men have now been hit hard by the realities of an adult and unsafe world,” DeMayo concludes. “Life's happened to them. And they, like we did, will have to decide which parts of themselves they will cling to and which parts they'll let go of in order to do what they've been telling humanity to do: face an uncertain future they never saw coming. As Trask told Cyclops in the premiere: ‘you have no idea what it's like to be left behind by the future.’ Now the X-Men do, and like each of us, they'll have to weigh whether this is a time for social justice — or as Magneto preached at his trial — is it a time for social healing.”
You can read through his post in full below.
The episode saw Genosha under assault from a gigantic Sentinel, who ended up killing several main characters, including Magneto, Gambit, Madelyne Pryor (which DeMayo has now confirmed) and more. Though there is a good chance at least some of these heroes will return (via time-travel or some other means) eventually, it would be a mistake for Marvel to rush into any kind of retcon, which would lessen the emotional impact of these deaths.
As for DeMayo, we still haven't had any clarification on why he parted ways with the show (there are rumors that it may have had something to do with his OnlyFans account), but fans are now campaigning for Marvel to rehire him.