X-Men ’97 Gets Major Update for New Seasons

Marvel’s X-Men ’97 premiered under weird circumstances earlier this year as series showrunner Beau DeMayo parted way with Marvel just days before the first episodes were released on Disney+. No official word was ever revealed about why Marvel and DeMayo went their separate ways, but execs at Marvel continued to speak fondly of him and DeMayo himself continued to talk about the show as episodes were being released. Now a new update has arrived concerning the future of Marvel’s X-Men ’97, with a report from Deadline revealing that Marvel’s What If…? scribe Matthew Chauncey is set to take over as the writer for the series. 

According to the trade, Chauncey will succeed Beau DeMayo as the lead writer for the show, but Chauncey will actually be penning the THIRD season of Marvel’s X-Men ’97. Before parting ways with Marvel Studios, Beau DeMayo had already written both season 1 and season 2 for X-Men ’97. The report goes on to note that the scripts for season 2 have been revised, but that Chauncey’s work on season 3 is now in active development. He’ll work along side X-Men ’97 director Jake Castorena and consulting producers Larry Houston and Eric and Julia Lewald (who returned to the Marvel team after working on X-Men: The Animated Series in the 1990s). 

Speaking in a previous interview with ComicBook’s Phase Zero podcast earlier this year, Jake Castorena opened up about the process of Season 2 of X-Men ’97, equating it to baking a cake. He added, “Nobody wants to ruin a cake. I don’t want to ruin a cake. Let us bake it,” Castorena laughed. “The cake is well underway and being made, being fabricated as we speak. There is no rest for the wicked I guess. To use that phrase. We rolled right into Season 2, while we were on Season 1!”

“I did write a lot of Season 2,” DeMayo previously shared about his involvement in season 2 of X-Men ’97. “However, unlike Season 1, I will not be heavily involved or leading production, cast records, design, editorial, post, music, etc., nor doing any production rewrites as it relates to the creative vision of the show. This is why I’ve said I can’t really speak to Season 2. But, looking forward to seeing the final product with you all whenever it airs. I have high hopes.”

Original X-Men: The Animated Series cast members Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) reprise their roles from the ’90s series while returning cast members Catherine Disher (original Jean Grey), Chris Potter (original Gambit), Alyson Court (original Jubilee), and Lawrence Bayne (original Cable) voice new characters. 

The new X-Men ’97 cast includes Ray Chase (Cyclops), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), JP Karliak (Morph), AJ LoCascio (Gambit), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop), and Matthew Waterson (Magneto).

X-Men ’97 is now streaming on Disney+.