X-Men: Kevin Feige’s Approach to Mutants Slammed by ’97 Creator

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In a series of critical posts on social media, Beau DeMayo, the creator of X-Men ’97 who parted ways with Marvel Studios in March 2024, voiced his disapproval over Kevin Feige’s management of the mutant team within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What did Beau DeMayo have to say about Kevin Feige’s handling of the X-Men?

In a couple of posts on X, DeMayo critiqued how Feige has used the X-Men within the MCU so far. He started by expressing his views on the appropriate approach to portraying the X-Men mythos on screen and TV, stating, “The X-Men demand careful, thoughtful planning to execute them well and make them impactful. It’s essential to consider the structure of their narrative carefully, and to be sensitive to how the story will unfold for viewers. Additionally, it’s crucial to restrain one’s personal creative desires and focus on understanding the mutants from THEIR perspective, which means respecting their established history and the emotional connection fans have with that history.

Later, DeMayo explained several points as to why Marvel Studios and Feige haven’t succeeded in integrating the X-Men effectively, starting with how the MCU’s initial encounter with the X-Men was through a “rewrite of events and a melodic cue in Ms. Marvel, implying she is now mysteriously a mutant. Essentially, the first appearance of the X-Men in the MCU isn’t one of the numerous mutants that have existed over the years, but a youthful revision forced upon the franchise by Kevin to establish his own touch and emphasize the ‘MCU spin.’ This introductory tease and rewrite has yet to be fully developed.

One way to rephrase the given text is as follows:

The creator of the 1997 version of X-Men expressed disagreement over Marvel’s decision to resurrect Patrick Stewart’s Professor X for a “nostalgic appearance” in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which ended with his character being killed once more. Additionally, he criticized Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Beast in The Marvels, as he has no prior connection with Monica Rambeau in the original comic books.

This paraphrase aims to maintain the same meaning while using a more straightforward and natural language that is easy to read.

As a fan, I can’t help but feel that the hints about Beast and Monica are just a ploy to stir up emotions. If they were to truly surprise us, how about ending the film with either Monica or Carol waking up to find… Anna Paquin’s Rogue? DeMayo seems to be suggesting this, possibly referring to their shared past in the comics where Rogue absorbed Carol’s psyche and Kree powers.

Brave New World, DeMayo felt that the introduction of adamantium was forced and didn’t contribute much, raising questions about the timeline, suggesting that Ms Marvel could have been a mutant before Wolverine joined the Weapon X program.

The production of a new X-Men series directed by Jake Schreier is underway. Interestingly, Marvel has decided to reunite the original cast from the initial X-Men trilogy produced by Fox for the upcoming film titled Avengers: Doomsday. However, as per DeMayo’s statement, this move appears to be strategic, aimed at generating artificial excitement and drawing attention away from Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios’ decade of struggles marked by a series of failures.

He stated, ‘Kevin is presenting fresh ideas such as Adamantium and Mutant Ms. Marvel, yet he’s also incorporating old X-Men characters from Fox. However, he informs us that they plan to reboot everything anyway? It’s rather confusing, isn’t it?’

DeMayo defended himself against accusations of being bitter following his dismissal by Marvel before X-Men ’97 had even debuted. In an effort to set the record straight, he pointed out that under his guidance and vision, his team created a project that strongly resonated with the core audience of the MCU – something that Kevin and his colleagues have yet to achieve in over a decade. Instead of acknowledging and learning from our focus on canon and character development, they attacked me, intimidated the crew into silence while continuing to mistreat them, and have made every effort to act like X-Men ’97 wasn’t successful.

He went on to say, ‘So far, neither Kevin nor Marvel has demonstrated an appreciation for the significant investment fans have made in these characters. Here’s hoping they’ll turn things around. Frankly, I’m not optimistic…not just yet, about the MCU’s Mutant Saga.’

Check out DeMayo’s full posts on X below:

The 20th Century Fox X-Men movies and X-Men ’97 are available to stream on Disney+.

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2025-08-15 20:10