“Animation can and should be treated as seriously ...

Beau DeMayo is very proud of X-Men ’97’s latest achievement.

Beau DeMayo’s relationship with X-Men ’97 has certainly been an interesting one. Even though the writer and creator was heavily involved in making the series as good as it is, he was fired by Marvel Studios ahead of its premiere. Despite this, he has been very vocal in interviews and on social media about the series in the best ways possible.

He has revealed behind-the-scenes information to fans, mentioned the intentions behind certain decisions in the show, and even talked about the next season. Even though he was fired from the series, he continued to treat it as the passion project that it was for him.

Knowing this, it is not surprising that he would comment when the show hits a serious achievement in the world of Hollywood.

X-Men ’97 Holds Its Own Against Live-Action

The nominees list for the Television Critics Association Awards was recently released (via Variety), and a certain show’s mention has a lot of Hollywood in shock. Animation has always been regarded as a weaker medium in the world of storytelling. Often not given the same amount of credit as live-action, it is counted out time and time again.

Despite this evident bias, X-Men ’97 was able to hold its own against the world of live-action cinema in the TCA awards, being nominated in the same categories as some of the best shows of the year. Starting off, it was nominated in the category of Outstanding New Program, alongside hits like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Shōgun, Ripley, and even Fallout.

It was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming, sharing the space with other PG shows like Heartstopper, Doctor Who, and Percy Jackson and the Olympian. It is safe to say that Marvel fans are extremely excited about such a feat.

Beau DeMayo Could Not Be More Proud

Beau DeMayo was quick to comment on the achievement of X-Men ’97. Even though the series is a piece of his past, he could not help but be proud of its success, as he revealed in a post on X. He started by mentioning that he was quite impressed by the nominations for the series.

Commenting on the bias Hollywood has against animation projects, he stated that he wanted to make them realize just how much can be achieved by the medium. He wanted to show how serious and good it could be for storytelling, and he believed the nomination would bring him one step closer to it.

Pretty amazing. One of my goals with the show was to show that animation can and should be treated as seriously as live action. To see [X-Men ’97] nominated with stellar live action shows like Shōgun means a lot.

He then talked about the live-action aspect of the news, stating that he could not be prouder at the fact that his work was being put alongside other critically acclaimed, live-action masterpieces like Shōgun. 

X-Men ’97 is available for streaming on Disney+.