Beau DeMayo’s upcoming animated series, X-Men ’97, will soon be hitting Disney+ and will serve as a direct sequel to the 90s show, X-Men: The Animated Series. The release of the much-awaited series is just around the corner and fans couldn’t be more excited. Thanks to the hype around the project, fans naturally have a ton of questions about what’s to come.
One of these questions is whether X-Men ’97 will be canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or not. And while many fans already believed that the series won’t be linked to the main superhero universe, Beau DeMayo has now himself confirmed that X-Men ’97 will be its own thing. Thanks to the creator’s official statement, we can’t help but wonder if this opens up yet another multiverse window.
X-Men ’97 is Not Canon to the MCU
Back in 2022, Beau DeMayo had a conversation with The Direct where they talked about the possibility of X-Men ’97 being connected to the MCU. Of course, since it was just 2022, DeMayo couldn’t reveal much about his upcoming project. Keeping his answer as vague as possible, the creator/head writer stated,
“The one thing I can say towards that is, I know sometimes we say, ‘No comment,’ and it’s like, ‘They’re just being obstinate.’ I’m gonna go with no comment here because part of the surprise will be finding that out when you experience the show.”
Well, it looks like DeMayo gave in and finally answered the question on his Instagram. While conducting a Q&A session on his Instagram stories, DeMayo came across a question that read, “Is X-Men 97’ canon to the MCU?” To this, he replied, “We are our own thing.”
Well, there you go. X-Men ’97 is going to be a breath of fresh air as anyone will be able to watch the animated series without having to worry about catching up with the other MCU projects.
On the other hand, X-Men ‘97’s individuality also means that there is a chance that the team of mutants shown in the series may be from an alternate reality, instead. This makes perfect sense as the MCU, at the moment, is quite focused on the X-Men, as is quite evident thanks to Deadpool 3. Having multiple versions of the team could be a good decision from the Marvel Studios as fans would certainly love seeing all the different storylines based on their favorite mutants. Only time will tell if X-Men ’97 chooses to go on the multiverse route or not.
Beau DeMayo Talks about the Responsibility That Came with X-Men ‘97
While speaking with The Direct about the project, DeMayo got candid about his experience writing the story for the animated series. Since he served as the head writer for the show, DeMayo was quite aware of the weight of responsibility on his shoulders as he couldn’t fall back on Jeremy Slater or anyone else to figure out the hiccups on the road. Talking about how different it was from his time on Moon Knight as a writer DeMayo stated,
“It’s just like, X-Men means something to a lot of people. There’s a weight and a responsibility there, I think, now that it’s back at Marvel Studios, that is very different, and that I’m always aware of. The funny difference is more sleepless nights, because on Moon Knight, if something didn’t go right, [I was like], ‘well, Jeremy [Slater] is writing the show, so at the end of the day, he’ll have to [figure it out].’
There have been several moments where I’m like, ‘Someone needs to figure this out—oh, it’s me now.’ [laughs] So, there’s been a lot of growth, I’d say, that I’ve had to do on X-Men ‘97. Just as a storyteller, and as a producer, and as a person, that has made it a very different experience than writing on Moon Knight.”
Given the fact that the trailer for the animated series was so well-received by the fans, it looks like DeMayo was able to pull through, after all. We can’t wait to see the magic he has stirred up!
X-Men ’97 will be available to stream on Disney+ on March 20.
