Head of Marvel Animation Discusses Beau DeMayo’s Exit
Outside of perhaps the departure of Victoria Alonso, last week’s revelation that X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo had left Marvel Studios just weeks before the show’s premiere was perhaps the most stunnning departure in recent memory.
In many ways, DeMayo had been the face of the X-Men: The Animated Series reboot, often providing updates on social media and interacting with fans. Then suddenly, he went quiet.
Photo: Marvel Studios
While neither Marvel nor DeMayo has explained what led to the showrunner’s exit, Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly and discussed the situation.
“We Parted Ways”
While Winderbaum did not want to get into the specifics of what led to DeMayo’s exit, he did describe the situation as “a parting of ways.”
Photo: Fandom
I don’t. ‘We parted ways’ is the best way I could say.”
Despite the unceremonious way that DeMayo’s Marvel career ended, Winderbaum was quick to praise him for his work.
Photo: Marvel || X-Men ’97
“I can’t talk about the details,” Winderbaum tells EW in an interview, “but I can say that Beau had real respect and passion for these characters and wrote what I think are excellent scripts that really the rest of the team were able to draw inspiration from [to] build this amazing show that’s on screen.”
A Shocking Exit
At the time he was let go, DeMayo had completed work on both Season 1 and Season 2 of ‘X-Men ’97.
According to reports, he was even tossing around ideas for a third season of the series with his team recently.
Photo: Variety
Then it was all over. By early last week, DeMayo’s company email had been deactivated, and the cast and crew were informed that he was no longer part of the project.
With X-Men ’97 set to premiere in just four days, there is a palpable cloud hanging over both the series and Marvel Animation.
Photo: Marvel
Hopefully, we will get more clarity on the situation soon.
