X-Men ’97 Creator And Marvel Are In A Nasty Public Fight

On social media, Beau DeMayo alleged that Marvel took his Season 2 credit after he shared gay pride-themed fan art. Following these claims, Marvel responded that DeMayo was actually fired after the company had a misconduct investigation that yielded findings of an “egregious nature.” Marvel’s sources told Deadline that DeMayo was investigated for alleged sexual misconduct but that the credit removal was actually due to a breach of the separation agreement between the two parties.

Beau DeMayo’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, then gave a statement to Deadline about Marvel and Disney, saying the company is “Family friendly on the outside, but secretly attempting to plant illegal unconscionable items in contracts that silence the truth and stop the employee/customer from asserting basic constitutional rights.”

While Freedman didn’t address the allegations directly, he further accused the company of “gaslighting and redirection of blame,” and said that DeMayo wants nothing from Disney and Marvel “except the truth.” Freedman ended his statement by saying that DeMayo will bravely tell the truth while noting, “Stand by,” so it seems likely that legal actions will be coming in the near future. 

Bryan Freedman, who is notable for working on some major wrongful termination suits, has previous experience suing Disney, such as when he sued the company for former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele. Judging by how much this has escalated, it seems highly likely that these won’t be the last words exchanged between Beau DeMayo and Marvel, though future statements will likely continue to come from the legal teams of both parties rather than battling it out on social media. It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this battle.

Beau DeMayo is both the creator and head writer of the first two seasons of Marvel’s X-Men ‘97, which is a revival and sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series that brought back many of the original stars to voice their characters. The first season had ten episodes and was met with nearly universal acclaim, with many fans hoping that Marvel would be able to come close to the success of this series when it eventually introduced the live-action X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Of course, since DeMayo was a major creative force for the X-Men ‘97 series, many fans are also worried that his absence may affect the quality of the show going forward.

What seems very clear is that Beau DeMayo won’t be working with Marvel again anytime soon, so fans probably shouldn’t expect him to return to X-Men ‘97, regardless of what happens. In the meantime, we’ll have to wait and see if DeMayo’s lawyer officially files a lawsuit against Disney. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on this story as it develops.

Source: Deadline