Former ‘X-Men ’97’ Showrunner Beau DeMayo Claims Credit For Cyclops Respect In ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Teaser, Blames Racism For Lack Of Recognition
Though excited to see Cyclops being given the proper respect in Avengers: Doomsday, former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo is unhappy with the circumstances of its execution, as he believes that he not only deserves credit for ‘fixing’ the mutant hero’s public image, but also that some level of racism is to blame for Marvel’s denying recognition to him and his fellow non-white production team members.
Leaking online just after the Christmas holiday and yet to be officially released, the third confirmed teaser for Avengers: Doomsday reveals the involvement of the original ‘Fox X-Men’ in the film’s multiversal brawl, beginning with Magneto approaching a despondent Professor Xavier, as played by Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart respectively, and ostensibly recruiting him to help stand against Doctor Doom’s machinations.
“Death comes for us all, that’s all I know for sure,” the Master of Magnetism tells his dear friend. “The question isn’t are you prepared to die, the question is who would you be when you close your eyes?”
As the final syllable leaves his throat, the scene then fades to black before cutting to a shot of Cyclops, as played by James Marsden and clad in a trunks-less version of his 90s Blue-and-Gold uniform, screaming defiantly in the face of an assumed pack of Sentinels as he removes his ruby-quartz visor and lets loose a max-power, eyes-wide-open optic blast against his metal foes.
An exceptionally cool shot reminiscent of Cyclops’ standing on business against a pack of Trask’s machines in Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3 #8, this brief look at the classic X-leader was enough to light an actual wildfire of excitement on social media, with even fans who long swore off the MCU finding themselves unable to deny that, regardless of how the film plays out, said snippet did present an objectively exciting visual.
Enter DeMayo, who a few days after the teaser leaked online took to his personal Twitter account to express his aforementioned grievances with Cyclops’ proper treatment, telling his followers, Glad my team and I could help, [Doomsday directorial duo] the Russo brothers. Marvel Studios, hopefully you’ll give [X-Men ’97 director Chase Conley and his board team the flowers and credit they deserve.”
Sharing a few pages from his original series documentation, DeMayo explained of his claim to Cyclops fame, “For those curious — these are the pages from my bible for X-Men ’97. You’ll see how Wolverine was listed from go as a C character. I’ll find the script I used to pitch to the head studio where I explicitly stated ‘This is not the Wolverine show. It’s time to move on.’
I was requested to remove that line from the mission statements before sending it to crew, but I made it clear that we were no longer making the X-Men all about Wolverine,” he said. “This was a mandate both fought for and proven by my team. It deserves to be recognized.”
To this end, DeMayo further posited, “It’s important as fans to honor the artists that brought this to fruition. The X-Men ’97 team and I faced significant doubt and resistance from the studio when I insisted Cyclops be the main character — instead of Wolverine — so it is weird to see this trailer and fans crediting certain folks for ‘honoring Cyclops’ when this was a direct pivot that occurred only after X-Men ’97‘s success.”
“I for one am grateful to Chase Conley and [X-Men ’97 storyboard artist] Emi Yonemura for having my back and helping me execute this part of my vision of restoring Cyclops. It does trouble me that I’ve seen Kevin and Marvel Studios credit Jon Favreau and other white creators for setting the tone and direction of the MCU but completely ignoring the work of the many black, queer, Asian, and Latino teammates that actually set the tone and proved to Marvel — who was still on the Logan train — that Cyclops deserves his due.
“This counters the belief that DEI pushes agendas when you had Marvel’s MOST diverse team all united behind Cyclops. More disheartening is seeing fellow artists like the Russo brothers completely ignoring our hard work and contributions, and that we did it with a quarter of the resources and support they’ve been given.
“But what’s most important is fans are happy, and that makes it all worth it. But I’d urge X-Men fans to reach out and show love to team of artists and animators who made this all possible.”
His claim finding support from another Twitter user, DeMayo would boast in turn, “Yep, notice how suddenly cyclops was becoming a major player in 2021?”
While explosive on its face, DeMayo’s claiming responsibility for Cyclops’ cultural revival is, unsurprisingly, far from an accurate read of the entire battlefield.
As anyone who has caught almost any X-media in the last decade or so can attest, a combination of the disservice done to the hero’s character in X-Men 3: The Last Stand as well as the later X-Men: Apocalypse and his constant sidelining in the comic books due to Ike Perlmutter being salty about Fox’s ownership of the X-Men’s movie rights has left Scott Summers with a less-than-great public image.
To his credit, yes, the work he and his team did on Scott Summers’ appearance in X-Men ’97 did admittedly go a long way in flipping the hero’s long-held public perception; With just one raid of a Sentinel factory and an optic blast-assisted landing, the series wiped away the ‘uptight, hardline’ image of Cyclops and provided a reminder as to the fact that for all his commitment to ‘standing up straight’, the man is still an absolute beast when it comes to leadership and combat.
However, rather than the sole catalyst to his treatment in Doomsday, the animated series was instead the final, publicly-delivered blow in solidifying the roadmap in the minds of general audiences.
Again, keeping in mind that there was an active mandate to ‘de-hype’ any and all Marvel mutants from roughly 2013-2019, the five years between its lifting and the March 2024 premiere of X-Men ’97 saw Cyclops enjoying an ever-increasing quality of life.
When it comes to video games, in addition to enjoying a long-running ‘cult character’ status among fighting game players due to his his appearances in the Marvel vs. series, Koei Tecmo’s 2019 Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 brought Cyclops back to digital prominence by not only putting him back in his classic Blue-and-Gold, but also made him one of the more powerful and useful heroes in the entire game.
In terms the comics, for all its post-Jonathan Hickman failures, Summer was front and center during the X-Men’s Krakoa era, his time as a militant mutant extremist giving way to a confident leader who, while not aggressive, knows exactly what cards he’s holding at any time and how to play them.
Hell, when the entire mutant ethnostate experiment was being torn apart by Orchis in late 2023, the entire war is ultimately put to an end by Cyclops, who after being tortured by the organization and having his eyes sewn shut, eventually breaks free from his bindings and leads the team in their final charge against Nimrod.
Ultimately, while the work done by him and his fellow X-Men ’97 production team members did, again, do an insanely great deal for Cyclops’ PR crisis, it’s a Kamala Khan-level stretch to suggest it was responsible for Avengers: Doomsday finally fulfilling a long-held fan desire.
