‘X-Men ’97’ Promises Original Showrunner’s Firing Has No Effect On Season 2: “Same Director, Producers, Cast, Many Of The Same Writers”
Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum has assured fans that despite being produced without the assistance of original showrunner Beau DeMayo, the upcoming second season of Disney Plus’ X-Men ’97 is still being worked on by all but a handful of its original creative team, and thus will see no drastic changes made to either its story or creative direction.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly‘s Nick Romano at the currently ongoing New York Comic Con 2025 on the topic of Marvel Studios’ small screen future, Winderbaum was at one point pressed by his host as to “the vibe and tone [of Season 2] is gonna be very similar to Season 1 or if it’s gonna go in a new direction” following DeMayo’s replacement as showrunner by What If…? story editor Matthew Chauncey.
In turn, the Marvel exec asserted, “Well, first and foremost, it’s actually the entire creative team. Same director, same producers, same cast, many of the same writers, and it’s standing on the shoulders of giants.
“One thing that makes X-Men ’97 work so well is that everybody’s rowing in exactly the same direction. Everyone that works on the show knows that original series inside and out. And we work very closely with [original X-Men: The Animated Series creators] Eric and Julia Lewald and Larry Houston. They’re here all the time reviewing material and talking to the artists. The second season feels very much a worthy successor to the first season.”
From there asked about Apocalypse voice actor Ross Marquand’s recent admission at the Salt Lake Comic Convention 2025 that “a lot of people die” in Season 2, Winderbaum recalled, “I saw something about that. I would say that it is the same stakes as Season 1.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a lot of characters die! It’s not Marvel Zombies, but like many great anime shows, like X-Men ’97 Season 1, mortality’s on the table and some of these characters want to do what’s right at any cost.”
Their time together coming to a close, Winderbaum was ultimately asked as to his thoughts on DeMayo’s post-X-Men ’97 divulging of the allegedly abhorrent treatment he and others received under Disney’s leadership, the Marvel Studios exec took the diplomatic approach and simply told Romano, “We’ve talked about this before. I’m grateful to Beau. We launched this series together. I think he did excellent work. Frankly, I don’t really look at it or read any of it, so I don’t really know.”
The saga of DeMayo’s firing first began in March 2024, when just day ahead of X-Men ’97’s premiere, he was let go from his position and subsequently stripped of his productions credits for the show’s second season, of which he had already written a sizeable portion.
At the time, the showrunner implied that his new unemployment status was related to his sharing of a fan art piece, as drawn by New York City-based artist Jn’eyde, depicting him in a risqué Cyclops cosplay.
However, he then announced he would be taking “a step back from social media” and proceeded to do so before divulging any specific information related to the situation.
Offering a response to DeMayo via a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter, an official Marvel spokesperson pushed back against his suggestion, in turn asserting that “Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation.”
“Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately,” they added, likewise declining to explain their side of the story, “and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
But in a third twist to the story, THR’s Aaron Couch and Borys Kit further reported that, per their alleged sources, the showrunner’s firing was the result of an agreement that had been “reached between the two parties over the issue of tweeting about the show, something that DeMayo had continued to occasionally do.”
“In light of the breeches, his credit for season two was removed,” they explained. “While no details of the cause of the termination or the internal reviews have surfaced. Sources say it involved sexual misconduct.”
From there, both DeMayo and Disney go dark on the topic, with neither party providing any updates for the next few months – that was until today, when without fanfare DeMayo uploaded a video aptly titled ‘Marvel-Disney Statement’ to his personal YouTube channel.
“These allegations of egregious misconduct are false,” said DeMayo in the opening to his lengthy video. ““They’re not just trying to discredit me using incredibly misleading press releases, but also through coordinated leaks, and bot attacks as well as ‘anonymous scoops’ being given to tabloid sites and podcasters.
“You maybe heard some of these, the ‘I’ve heard rumbling and whispers about Beau’. Now back when I was at high school we called this gossip. Unlike then, today, luckily, I have a legal team who has forensic investigators tracking these attacks, scoops and leak so that we can hold those responsible for defamation, harassment, and for inciting outright criminal threats of violence.”
As of publication, Disney has not offered a public response to DeMayo’s video statement.
Meanwhile, DeMayo continues to occasionally share more behind-the-scenes details regarding his time as showrunner via his personal Twitter account.
