Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: disney plus, Marvel Studios, preview, trailer, x-men, X-Men '97

X-Men '97 Showrunner, Producer on What to Know About Wolverine, Beast

X-Men '97 Showrunner Beau DeMayo & Supervising Producer Jake Castorena offer some insights into Wolverine's & Beast's roles in the series.

Earlier today, the news that fans had been waiting a long time for was finally announced. On March 20th, Marvel Studios will be bringing X-Men '97 to Disney+ screens – and with that news came an official trailer and poster that wore its X-Men: The Animated Series love on its sleeve. In case you hadn't heard, the voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Thanks to a profile interview with Empire Magazine, Showrunner Beau DeMayo & Supervising Producer Jake Castorena shared some insights into the beloved characters ahead of next month – for this go-around, we're looking at what they had to share about Wolverine and Beast.

When it comes to Wolverine, DeMayo sees the famed X-Man as the "broken-hearted samurai who thinks he's an animal" who still has a lot to offer from a storyline perspective. Castorena followed that with an interesting observation about the clawed Canadian. "What I love is, he has the most combat [training] of everyone on the team just because he's been alive long enough, and he throws it out the window every time," the supervising producer shared. As DeMayo describes him, viewers can expect the team's resident favorite "uncle" to be the source of both hope and solutions. "He's the guy who's always going to say the right thing, even if he's quoting somebody else. He's always going to have a solution. It may not be the perfect solution, but he's going to try very, very hard to fix the scientific problem of the day," the showrunner added.

DeMayo & Supervising Producer Jake Castorena made a surprise appearance during Marvel's "Designing the X-Men" panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 to offer some updates and… wait for it… footage from the series. Yup – but the bad news? It's not going to be released – at least not anytime soon. But what was screened included scenes of the team interrogating Dr. Trask, Jean Grey having some "issues" with Cerebro, Cyclops using his power to save some literally falling teammates, and even a "To me, my X-Men" line thrown in for good measure. Along with the screening, we learned that Jean is pregnant, Archangel & Bishop will be official team members, and Mr. Sinister has a "pretty foolproof plan to destroy the X-Men once and for all." From the production standpoint, we learned that things are going "really, really well" and that not only is post-production work on the first season being finished up but also that they're about to wrap writing the Season 2 finale.

X-Men '97 – Beau DeMayo Clarifies Some Previous Misreporting

Picking up not long after the events of the "final" episode "Graduation Day" (directed by Larry Houston and written by James Krieg), the series will apparently deal with the fallout stemming from the world witnessing Henry Peter Gyrich shooting Xavier during a Mutant/Human Relations Summit. While Xavier & Lilandra leave for the Shi'Ar home world for Xavier's cure, global support for mutantkind grows. As we've seen in previous previews for the animated series, the X-Men roster will see some changes as Morph and Bishop join the team. Things are apparently so good that Rogue & Gambit consider giving a real-life a shot, while Cyclops & Storm look to continue growing Professor X's dream. Even Magneto was apparently moved enough by Xavier's words & actions to consider giving Xavier's philosophy a try. So, with all of this "happily ever after" stuff going on, what better time for Mr. Sinister to make a return? Now, here's a look at DeMayo's tweet clarifying what was discussed at Marvel Unlimited's X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years Live Virtual Event on March 16th:

In October 2022, DeMayo fielded some questions on social media that included shedding some light on the upcoming animated series revival. With production first getting underway in Fall 2020 and a second season confirmed, DeMayo sees the animated series as a large part of his life "for the foreseeable future," along with two upcoming non-MCU feature projects. As for the series and how it will be received by a fanbase that's remained faithful to the series since it originally left our screens, DeMayo admitted that it's a concern but also that he's "not worried" because of the "amazing talent" that's working on the series.

DeMayo Only Wanted Fans Working on "X-Men '97": "My general rule was you had to be a fan. No questions," DeMayo explained. "I've been on [a] show, namely '[The] Witcher,' where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games… even actively mocking the source material. It's a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos and makes all the long nights worth it." As DeMayo sees it, "you have to respect the work before you're allowed to add to its legacy."

DeMayo Has "Mixed Feelings" on Rogue Controlling Her Powers: "I am aware that Rogue learned to control her powers, and I have mixed feelings on the shift. However, trust me when I say Rogue fans have plenty to be stoked about… in no small part due to [Supervising Producer] Charley Feldman being a massive advocate for her character."

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