After voicing his dissatisfaction with ‘What If…?’ Season 3 and headwriter Matthew Chauncey, former ‘X-Men ’97’ showrunner, Beau DeMayo, recently criticized Marvel Studios for changing the races of certain villains who were originally white in the comics.
“Here let me rephrase,” he wrote on X, “Hey, Marvel Studios, please stop race-swapping white villains to black people. It reads ‘funny.’ Kang. High Evolutionary. Norman Osborn. Electro. Mordo.”
When someone pointed out that Sunspot in his show had much lighter skin than he did in the comics, the writer replied, “Asked and answered. This was a Marvel directive. Crew members and I brought up his Afro heritage multiple times. They wanted ‘Latino representation’ on the team since Storm and Bishop were already black.”
DeMayo has been in conflict with Marvel since they fired him earlier this year, shortly before the animated show’s premiere. The studio later released a statement saying the showrunner was let go due to ‘the egregious nature of the findings’ from an internal investigation.
Reports alleged that DeMayo was terminated for sending lewd photos to staff members. There were also claims that he was physically and sexually inappropriate with several colleagues.
The writer, however, claimed he was fired due to racism and homophobia, and he also said his X-Men ’97 Season 2 credit was stripped shortly after he shared Gay Pride Month fan art of himself dressed as Cyclops.
Scripts for the second season were reportedly revised and rewritten by that time, while Marvel brought Matthew Chauncey in to oversee the show.
