Former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo on Friday alleged that Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige was not happy with the show because fans were using it as an example for the kind of content they expect from MCU.
In a series of tweets on X, DeMayo, who was fired from the team of X-Men ’97 for alleged “egregious” misconduct, revealed that Marvel employees were reaching out to him and asking how he was able to make such a “good show” given the current situation of the MCU.
After Episode 5 of the animated series aired, DeMayo said that he was told over the phone that Feige “resented” the show.
“I asked the exec if Kevin was happy, because stupidly I still wanted to help the studio out. Their response was a long pause, and then I was told that he’d be “happier” if fans and audiences weren’t using it as a referendum on what the MCU needs to be doing to fix itself. What makes it worse I think is that Kevin has nothing to do with #xmen97 and could take no credit for it,” he posted on X.
DeMayo mentioned that Marvel employees were in awe of his show, saying that it’s the best thing the studio has done in recent years.
“With their praise I noticed more and more that I was becoming a threat and regret to studio leadership,” he wrote.
Despite all the high praise, Feige and Louis D'Esposito, co-president of Marvel Studios, did not bother to attend the premiere of the show.
“They didn’t show up to thank the fans. They didn’t show up to thank @xmentas, the Lewald’s and Houston or the OG voice cast, for how they built that foundation back in the 90s of the MCU. Nope we were just a little cartoon that wasn’t sexy enough or taken seriously enough to warrant that great Kevin Feige to attend,” he added.
Released in March 2024, X-Men ’97 follows the mutants as they face a new threat after the death of their founder Charles Xavier. It brought back several fan-favourite mutant characters — Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast and Storm — from the 1992 animated series, this time on a digital platform.
Feige was yet to respond to the allegations at the time this report was published.
