X-Men ’97 Creator Slams Marvel for Re-Hiring Thunderbolts* Director After Flop
X-Men ’97 creator and former screenwriter Beau DeMayo dismissed Marvel’s choice for the director of the X-Men reboot as “pathetic.” This came after it was recently confirmed that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier would helm the X-Men Studios for Marvel Studios.
Beau DeMayo on Marvel hiring Jake Schreier as X-Men reboot’s director
Beau DeMayo took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on Marvel tasking Schreier to direct the X-Men reboot. He compared Marvel Studios to a “plantation country club” and described Schreier as a “fail-upwards” filmmaker.
“Oh, look, only at @MarvelStudios with its plantation country club vibes can you direct a decent film that doesn’t break even at the box office and land this gig,” DeMayo posted. “Oh to fit a certain demographic in Hollywood and just fail upwards.”
The post further reads, “ZERO interest in seeing what him and another mediocre fail-upwards come up with this. At least we know we’re getting Igers version of X-Men that has zero authentic exploration of the core themes of #xmen. Like this is f—— pathetic choice.”
This prompted sharp reactions from fans, with some supporting DeMayo’s view on the subject and others criticizing it. In the comment section, DeMayo clarified that one of his issues with Schreier landing the gig was that an X-Men project required a “diverse vision.” He added, “Schreier should know this before accepting the job. And, I know the inside on Thunderbolts and how much of that was Jake so…”
Before Thunderbolts*, Schreier helmed 2012’s science fiction comedy drama feature Robot & Frank and 2015’s romantic comedy drama movie Paper Towns. He also directed several episodes of Showtime’s Kidding and Netflix’s Beef. Notably, Thunderbolts* had a production budget of $180 million (via The Hollywood Reporter) and made about $381 million at the global box office.
In March 2024, Marvel Studios fired DeMayo from X-Men ’97 ahead of the show’s premiere on Disney+ and after he finished writing the sophomore season. In July that year, What If…? screenwriter Matthew Chauncey boarded the project to pen and executive-produce Season 3. Marvel also reportedly tasked him to oversee the rewritings for Season 2.
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on SuperHeroHype.
Source: Comingsoon.net