{"id":570456,"date":"2025-11-14T19:18:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/570456\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T19:18:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:18:21","slug":"marvel-studios-ugliest-scandal-has-me-worried-about-its-biggest-future-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/570456\/","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Studios\u2019 Ugliest Scandal Has Me Worried About Its Biggest Future Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marvel Studios is going to into some pivotal years starting in 2026. It\u2019s on the shoulders of the two big event films, Avengers: Doomsday<\/a> and Avengers: Secret Wars<\/a>, to get the Marvel Cinematic Universe out of the current \u201cMultiverse Saga\u201d mess and set the franchise on renovated ground to start a new era. It\u2019s no secret that the biggest hope for the MCU\u2019s re-invention in Phase 7 will be the addition of the X-Men franchise, finally giving fans a fully united roster of Marvel characters who can all play in the same sandbox. However, the big question has been: how will Marvel Studios reboot the X-Men franchise?<\/p>\n

Well, Marvel fans got their first hint as to that answer with the release of X-Men \u201997<\/a>, the Disney+ animated series that continued the continuity of X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s, and set the blueprint for how to fit the X-Men into the MCU brand<\/a>. The series became a breakout hit for Marvel Studios Animation and has been one of the most successful MCU releases of the last few years. But before the hype over X-Men \u201997 reached its peak, showrunner Beau De Mayo was fired from the series. That sparked one of the loudest controversies the MCU brand has ever (publicly) had to face; it also has me very worried about not just the future of X-Men \u201997, but the MCU X-Men reboot, as well.<\/p>\n

X-Men \u201997 Was One of Marvel\u2019s Most Controversial Releases<\/p>\n

\"X-MEN(L-R): Professor X (voiced by Ross Marquand) and Magneto (voiced by Matthew Waterson) in Marvel Animation\u2019s X-MEN \u201997. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. \u00a9 2024 MARVEL.<\/p>\n

Without falling down the rabbit hole: Beau DeMayo was fired by Disney and Marvel for reasons that remain\u2026 murky. A lot of triggering buzzwords and some confusing accusations from both sides seemed to paint a least part of a picture; it seemed that tensions had arisen somewhere between De Mayo\u2019s personality and his personal life, both of which Disney alleges affected the workplace. DeMayo has countered with assertions that being creatively tough and unabashedly speaking his mind caused friction in the workplace \u2013 particularly because he was both LGBTQ+ and a person of color. De Mayo also claimed that racial and sexual identity made him a target within Disney\u2019s corporate culture and its strict codes of conduct<\/a>, and led to him ultimately being taken off of X-Men \u201997<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Marvel would have my back against this [identity politics] stuff,\u201d DeMayou stated in a video post<\/a> earlier this year. \u201cInstead, the studio looked the other way as my identity was weaponized by Marvel execs and select crew members to undermine me. Create a humiliating environment where people feel emboldened to use the same dog-whistling stereotypes favored by bigots for decades. He\u2019s big, he\u2019s intimidating, too opinionated, angry, emotional, flamboyant, dramatic, a pervert.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wherever the truth may lie, the reaction from Beau De Mayo has been anything but quiet. The former showrunner was vocal on social media throughout X-Men \u201997\u2018s run \u2013 and has continued to speak up while fans wait for Season 2<\/a>. It\u2019s been an ugly blemish on Marvel Studios at a time when the studio has been trying to lock into a major branding rebound. The subsequent delays production issues, and lackluster promotion for Marvel\u2019s more diverse characters and projects (Blade reboot has stalled, Ironheart and Echo getting speed-dumped onto Disney+, etc.) speaks to a general shift in brand focus that X-Men fans should be particularly worried about. Because Marvel\u2019s Mutant superhero team stands separate from the Avengers or Spider-Man for one distinct reason: it\u2019s talking about something deeper than superhero fantasy. <\/p>\n

X-Men \u201997 Had Authenticity That Made It A Hit<\/p>\n

\"\"Disney+<\/p>\n

X-Men \u201997 wasn\u2019t just a successful continuation of the \u201990s animated series: it was also an insightful adaptation of the core dynamics of X-Men comic books (the messy family drama!), as well as arguably the most successful conveyance of the deeper subtext and metaphors of the X-Men\u2019s story. That wasn\u2019t coincidental: as Beau DeMayo has made clear, it was his status and viewpoint as both a queer man and a black man that allowed him to explore the characters and their conflicts in a way that other cinematic storytellers never did. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took the job on X-Men, I was told that they valued my perspective and experiences as a queer, Black man,\u201d DeMayo said, later addign that \u201cIt was agreed that due to the themes of the X-Men, as well as my experience and the just general excitement around my pitch, that I would supervise all areas and stages of production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans certainly noticed the difference in insight and perspective: from Episode 2 of X-Men \u201997 (the politically-charged \u201cMutant Liberation Begins\u201d) onward, it was clear that the commanding voice behind the series actually had plenty to say in terms of how modern oppressed people were thinking about, feeling about, and debating about the world, and where it seemed to be headed. The cartoon series actually went so far as to do an episode about the X-Men and mutantkind suffering a Holocaust-style genocide against their new homeland, Genosha (in the heartbreaking \u201cRemember It\u201d). Fans were floored by how the story conveyed the anxiety, pain, and poignant bravery of real oppressed people who have suffered unprovoked acts of hate and violence. <\/p>\n

In addition to nailing the socio-political subtext, X-Men \u201997 Season 1 also demonstrated incredbile insight and understanding of the various X-Men characters and their respective canonical histories. And yet, according to DeMayo, that fanboy fervor was actually counted as a strike against him: <\/p>\n

\u201cThey pivoted to attacking my talent, accusing me of being too much of a fanboy,\u201d DeMayo continued explaining in his video rebuttal. \u201cThey openly resented me fighting for the fans, fighting for the comics. They accused me of playing karaoke with those comics, and repeatedly I was told by these individuals that we should be doing our own version of X-Men\u2026 Now, my response to this was to try to calmly outline that fans didn\u2019t want to see our version of the X-Men. They, like me, want to see the characters that they have loved for decades faithfully adapted on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, take DeMayo\u2019s account with the proper grain of salt, <\/p>\n

The MCU X-Men Reboot Needs An Authentic POV <\/p>\n

\"\"20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

Since leaving X-Men \u201997, DeMayo has been gracious enough to the team that replaced him, but critical of the show\u2019s prospects for living up to fans\u2019 standards in Season 2, and the already-confirmed Season 3. He\u2019s also been critical of Marvel Studios tapping Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier to helm the X-Men reboot film<\/a>, by not-so-subtely asserting that Schreier more traditional identity and social pespective may not be the guiding hand and voice that a modern X-Men movie needs. <\/p>\n

Despite the obvious bias, there may be some truth in what DeMayo claims. It\u2019s no secret that Marvel is currently struggling witht he X-Men brand on the comic book side. The latest relauch initiative, \u201cFrom the Ashes,\u201d took the X-Men out of the novel new context of being heads of their own soverign mutant nation (the island of Krakoa), and has scattered the team roster (and all those spinoff X-groups they form) across the globe. However, it would be an understatement to say that \u201cFrom the Ashes\u201d has failed to rise up to the thematic complexity of using mutants as a metaphor for, say, the challenges faced by modern day diaspora of black and\/or LGBTQ+ peoples \u2013 or even better inform people about what a \u201cdiaspora\u201d even is. It suggests that there is indeed difficulty in Marvel fashioning a modern version of X-Men that retains its creative authenticity, while being more commercially viable to a wider demographic of fans. <\/p>\n

So what will the X-Men MCU reboot do to get over that chanllenge? <\/p>\n

\"\"Marvel Comics<\/p>\n

While it seems that Jake Schreier is set as director, Marvel Studios may want to seriously consider who they tap to handle the script for the film. There are plenty of talented writers of from across the color, cultural, gender and sexual spectrum working in Hollywood today who could offer fantastic perspective on what the X-Men story means today; heck, you could even assemble a team of them. The X-Men encompass an incredibly large and diverse range of characters, so it could legitimately take an entire creative village to make sure they all done, properly. <\/p>\n

For now, I\u2019m more worried that X-Men \u201997 Season 2, without Beau DeMayo\u2019s perspective, will feel as hollow and misguided as the current comics run. We won\u2019t know for sure until we see Season 2 \u2013 which hopefully won\u2019t be our first alarm bell that we should be worried for about where the MCU reboot is headed.<\/p>\n

All X-Men content is streaming on Disney+. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marvel Studios is going to into some pivotal years starting in 2026. It\u2019s on the shoulders of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[3983,23606,77,15576,4516,3943,16,15,7934],"class_list":{"0":"post-570456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-avengers-doomsday","9":"tag-avengers-secret-wars","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-marvel-cinematic-universe","12":"tag-marvel-studios","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-x-men"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115549668139893408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}