Former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo is airing out his frustrations with Marvel Animation, accusing executives of undermining the comics and cutting key parts of his original vision for the hit series.
In a series of tweets, DeMayo revealed behind-the-scenes conflicts with Marvel Animation VP Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt during production on Season 2, claiming she rejected core comic book elements and made his life “miserable.”
Recall how former Marvel producer Nate Moore also said he wouldn’t hire creatives who read comics. The director of the Secret Invasion series also admitted he was told not to read the comics by Marvel.
Comic Book Lore Rejected
DeMayo says the trouble started when he adapted The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix storyline for X-Men ’97 Season 2. In the comic, Scott Summers and Jean Grey use the nicknames “Slymm” and “Red” to hide their identities while raising Nathan Summers in the future. According to DeMayo, Vasquez-Eberhardt didn’t get it:
“The current VP of Marvel Animation Dana Vasquez-Eberharr, who despised me, comes at me for how stupid the nicknames are. She agreed with another director that they just couldn’t take the nicknames seriously and that I need to ‘turn my comic collector brain off.’”
DeMayo explained that the nicknames were more than just references — they had emotional weight for the characters:
“The aliases are Jean and Scott’s pet names for their teenage years… The nicknames speak to that feeling all new parents have of losing their youth and past selves.”
But instead of embracing the lore, DeMayo says he was “shut out of the process.”
Clashing Over Character Lore
The showrunner also described a separate argument over the inclusion of Ozymandias, a major Apocalypse-related character from the comics. Vasquez-Eberhardt allegedly wanted to simplify him to a generic “warlord”:
“This was after Dana and I had to have a stupid fight over Ozymandius in Season 2. She felt I was putting too much lore in.”
He said that these kinds of internal battles distracted from improving the show:
“When you have creatives who have to spend half their day having arguments of items like this instead of polishing and plussing the show — especially after having proved your vision works — is beyond offensive and demoralizing.”
Final Horsemen and Finale Episode Cut
DeMayo said he introduced the Final Horsemen of Apocalypse in Season 2, but was ordered to color-code them in “blue and purple” to make the connection more obvious — a move he strongly opposed:
“Dana hounded and made my life miserable demanding we have them all literally color-coded… The Horsemen looked like a goddamn high school color-guard.”
Most notably, DeMayo says Vasquez-Eberhardt is the one responsible for cutting the Onslaught finale episode:
“Oh yeah. She’s the VP of all animation… She’s the one who cut the Onslaught ep finale in Season 2.”
“They Want to Make Their Mark”
While DeMayo acknowledged that creative tensions are part of the process, he accused Marvel Animation leadership of pushing personal agendas instead of honoring the source material:
“At the end of the day it’s a negotiation between two mediums but you have to first capture and respect the source.”
“It’s about them wanting to make THEIR MARK on the project.”
Subtle Threats and Ignored Comics
DeMayo ended his thread by implying there was pressure to fall in line — or face consequences:
“They have a way of subtly threatening you with your job and livelihood if you don’t comply.”
In a follow-up exchange, a fan pushed back on the idea that Marvel execs even read comics, to which DeMayo replied:
“No. They absolutely don’t. They have their assistants read them and write up a loose paragraph summary.”
Toldja https://t.co/Uxx8SWWeeo
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) August 4, 2025
