X-Men '97 Exec Admits Deadpool Was "Off-Limits"

Beau DeMayo revealed Deadpool was "off-limits."

By Jamie Jirak

X-Men '97 only has one episode left of its first season, and fans are eager to find out how things will wrap up after a whole lot of drama and excitement has unfolded throughout the episodes. The show, which takes place right where X-Men: The Animated Series left off, has featured some exciting Marvel cameos, including Captain America and Spider-Man. The show's creator, Beau DeMayo, has been sharing X-Men content on social media, and answering some fan questions. This week, he revealed why Deadpool isn't popping up in the series. 

"Where is Deadpool at?" one fan asked. "Yeah, he was off-limits," DeMayo revealed. While the Season One showrunner didn't explain why, there are a few potential reasons why Marvel Studios may have chosen to keep the Merc with the Mouth out of the show. The first is that Deadpool & Wolverine is heading to theaters this summer, and they may have wanted to save the character for the big screen. It could also be that Deadpool tends to be a Rated R/TV-MA character, and X-Men '97 is rated TV-14. You can check out DeMayo's response below:

Why Was Beau DeMayo Fired From X-Men '97?

As fans were gearing up for the release of X-Men '97, the surprising news broke that showrunner Beau DeMayo had been fired from the series. Details of his firing have remained under wraps, but Brad Winderbaum recently addressed the news in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"I can't talk about the details," Winderbaum explained. "But I can say that Beau had real respect and passion for these characters and wrote what I think are excellent scripts that really the rest of the team were able to draw inspiration from [to] build this amazing show that's on screen." When asked if he would consider what happened with DeMayo as a "firing" as had been the wording used in the press, Winderbaum added, "I don't. 'We parted ways' is the best way I could say."

X-Men '97 Producer Explains Why Retro Setting Was Major Advantage:

ComicBook.com's Phaze Zero podcast recently spoke with producer Brad Winderbaum, and he explained why setting the show in 1997 was an advantage.

"Well, actually, it was kind of liberating to be able to stay in the 90s," Winderbaum began. "It allowed us to go places that we could just do what we want. To be so iterative. Things that we couldn't do if we were more MCU adjacent like What If...? is. I mean, What If...? is like we're literally remixing the MCU. So, it's harder to introduce characters. Because you want to see them in live-action. Although, we do see Bill Foster as Giant Man in the second season. That's new!" 

Related:

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

The season finale of X-Men '97 drops May 15th on Disney+.

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