Matthew Chauncey, who wrote several episodes for the first two seasons of ‘What If…?’, became the head writer for the show’s most recent season. He is now expected to take on the same role for ‘X-Men ‘97’ Season 3, but after the latest ‘What If…?’ episodes, fans, as well as former showrunner Beau DeMayo, are concerned with the decision.
DeMayo, who was fired from ‘X-Men ‘97’ ahead of its debut due to sexual misconduct allegations, recently criticized the animated anthology series and its current showrunner on X. “Yikes. Just yikes,” he wrote. “I’d watch more to give notes on how it could’ve easily been done better, but I have some water to watch boil.”
When asked about the issues with the final season, he replied, “To has no substance and feels like fanfic. The dialogue is flat and so obvious, and some of the premises are just weird.”
‘What If…?’ presents alternate timelines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, exploring how major events could have happened differently, as observed by the Watcher. While the first two seasons became quite popular with its take, many thought the final season’s storylines were weaker, despite the series’ potential for limitless possibilities.
DeMayo attributed these issues to Chauncey’s leadership, saying, “This is also the season where AC Bradley completely stepped back for Chauncey to take over.”
Responding to concerns about Chauncey’s upcoming work on ‘X-Men ‘97’ Season 3, he added, “I know Marvel and Chauncey tore up my intercut time hopping across the first episodes because it was ‘too complicated.’ Yet complication and layers are what this show needed.”
One significant criticism of Season 3 was the minimal involvement of the X-Men, despite Disney acquiring the rights to the Mutants. Storm, Goddess of Thunder, appeared in a few episodes, but most X-Men appearances were limited to brief cameos.
Director Bryan Andrews said this was because the team wasn’t aware Disney had regained the X-Men rights from Fox. DeMayo dismissed the explanation, commenting, “I have no idea why they’re lying.” He then shared, “They were very well aware that the rights [were acquired]. We had convos. Absolutely bullsh*t. Again, just liars. They came and asked my ‘X-Men ‘97’ team what character they could use in ‘What If…?’ Season 3, and we pointed them to ‘What If…? #12’ (1990). This is like the lying BS with T’Chaka.”
‘What If…?’ Season 3 has the lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes at 75%, compared to the 89% of Season 1 and the 90% achieved by Season 2.
