Ex-X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo recently shared a piece of fan art of himself. He also shared a series goal along with the image.

Over on X, DeMayo posted the artwork in question, which sees DeMayo dressed as Magneto sans the tunic and helmet while in front of a starry background. Above the image, DeMayo commented, “Happy [Juneteenth]! Felt right to share this piece by [Julio Figueroa.] As always, beyond flattered. One of my goals with [X-Men ’97] was to explore how anyone can rise above cyclical and intersectional nature of oppression and for some reason this speaks to that for me.“

Happy Teenth! Felt right to share this piece by @jafigueroaar. As always, beyond flattered. One of my goals with #xmen97 was to explore how anyone can rise above cyclical and intersectional nature of oppression and for some reason this speaks to that for me. pic.twitter.com/1k99oErFFk — Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) June 19, 2024

Prior to this, DeMayo defended Morph’s feelings for Wolverine, professing that from story bible to script, “Morph’s confession to Logan was always romantic.” DeMayo added, “I discussed this openly and often during production. Suggesting otherwise, never mind contradicting the intention of a queer writer-showrunner, is both offensive and straight-washing. To talk about representation and it mattering, and then contradict a gay black creator once they are able to become one of the few showrunners who are gay and black, is just disingenuous.”

“One of my goals with [ X-Men ’97 ] was to explore how anyone can rise above cyclical and intersectional nature of oppression and for some reason this speaks to that for me.”

Putting the spotlight on X-Men ’97 itself, DeMayo delved into how it will continue X-Men: The Animated Series‘ story, remarking that every design choice is actually a clue to the storylines the production team is doing and that nothing is arbitrary. “[The other reason was to] throw the X-Men back to a time where they’re thinking about: What part of this do I want to keep?” he continued. “Was it truly simpler back then, or were we just more naive?”

Tying into this, DeMayo touched upon why helming Marvel Studios’ first X-Men-related outing was important in 2022, avowing at the time that X-Men “means something to a lot of people,” going on to further note, “There’s a weight and a responsibility there, I think, now that it’s back at Marvel Studios, that is very different, and that I’m always aware of.”

X-Men ’97 Embraces the Cameos

Additionally, X-Men: The Animated Series director Larry Houston sang the praises of X-Men ’97‘s cameo-based legacy in May. Houston asserted that it was fun to see his “unauthorized use of cameos fully embraced by the highly-talented X-Men ’97 team, albeit now with full official clearances.”

Besides these bits of news, executive producer Brad Winderbaum conveyed that Season 3 is already in development. As of now, plot details for Season 2 and Season 3 are under wraps.

X-Men ’97 is streaming on Disney+.