The world’s favorite animated mutants are about to return to television, but just days before the premiere of X-Men ’97, shocking news is rocking the highly anticipated series to its core. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Beau DeMayo, the creator of X-Men ’97, has been fired. Both Marvel and DeMayo‘s team declined to comment. The fact that DeMayo‘s exit from Marvel comes merely days before the premiere of the series he’d been working on for so long time makes the announcement all the more surprising, raising questions regarding the context behind it.

The fact that DeMayo has been let go from Marvel is more surprising considering that the return of the X-Men to television wasn’t the only project he was working on for the studio. Before diving deep into the world of Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand) and his students, DeMayo served as a writer on titles such as Moon Knight and an earlier draft of the long-awaited Blade movie. DeMayo was also expected to lead the team behind the second season of the already renewed X-Men ’97, and he was even throwing around vague ideas for the third installment of the show with his team before he was fired.

X-Men: The Animated Series might’ve come to an end twenty-five years ago, but its characters are more than ready to join the fight against evil once again. Marvel Studios has been looking for a way to expand their slate of animated projects, as proven by the release of What If…?. And now, X-Men ’97 will follow Cyclops (Ray Chase), Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale), Wolverine (Cal Dodd), and more mutants as the team deals with the loss of Professor Xavier. Of course, Magneto (Matthew Waterson) will have something to say about the power vacuum left behind by his greatest enemy.

‘X-Men ’97’ Will Premiere on Disney+

The release of X-Men ’97 is just around the corner, with the first two episodes of the series hitting Disney+ on March 20. To create more anticipation for the project among followers of the brand, Marvel Studios released the official episode titles for the show last week. The first episode of the series will be called “To Me, My X-Men”, which is a clear reference to how Professor Charles Xavier communicates to have the team assemble in the comic books. More details surrounding the firing of Beau DeMayo may be released in the future.

X-Men ’97 will be available to stream on Disney+. Stay tuned at Collider for further updates.

via Collider