X-Men ‘97 Creator Beau DeMayo Forgets His Hypocrisy: Latest Rant Against Race-Swapping MCU Villains Makes No Sense

Marvel has undoubtedly the most diverse range of superheroes. Be it China, India, Russia, Europe, or America, almost every region of the world has its superhero representation. However, when it comes to their on-screen adaptation, the creators often take some liberties, which sometimes clash with the roots of the comic book characters.

X-Men ‘97 creator Beau DeMayo’s comments bring attention to such a situation. Both Marvel and its parent company, Disney, have been trying to incorporate different cultures in their movies and shows for some time now. However, DeMayo’s recent callout for some race-swapping made fans recall his own creation.

Beau DeMayo’s race-swapping allegation to Marvel backfires

Things have not been going that well between Beau DeMayo and Marvel Studios after the X-Men ’97 showrunner was fired due to “egregious” misconduct and violations of agreement (as per Deadline). DeMayo hasn’t left a chance to criticize the flaws of the studio online since his departure.

The new criticism came regarding the representation of different races on-screen and their authenticity to the comic book roots. In his recent post on X, DeMayo blamed Marvel for “race-swapping” iconic villains like Kang, High Evolutionary, Norman Osborn, Electro, and Mordo, saying, “Please stop race-swapping white villains to black people. It reads ‘funny.’”

However, what is noteworthy here is that DeMayo himself did a similar thing in his show X-Men ‘97 when he portrayed Roberto Da Costa, aka Sunspot, in a much lighter skin tone while the character is actually African-Brazilian in the comics. Moreover, Gui Agustini, who voices the character in the show, is also a white Brazilian.

This ironic situation didn’t go unnoticed by fans as netizens hit back at DeMayo for his accusations against Marvel Studios. 

You race swap Sunspot in x-men 97, had a white actor play him and forgot the character was Afro-Brazilian. So how you are you different? pic.twitter.com/dCgMU3uXCZ

— Ayman ☭ (@GuyWhoConquers) December 30, 2024

@BeauDemayo How are any of them different from Sunspot being portrayed only as brazilian and not as a black man as he originally was in the comics?

— 🍉 The Alejandro Chaves 🇨🇷 (COMMS OPEN 2/10) 🍉 (@cr_chaves_18) December 30, 2024

And yet you erased Sunspots origin as a black boy in X Men 97 & kept the erasure going.. IT READS FUNNY!

Look at your own plate first before you look at other plates smh pic.twitter.com/XZnKdC1E3r

— Shinigami•Silver* (@Nacht_Silver) December 30, 2024

Coming from the guy who race swapped Sunspot then defended it whenever it was brought up?? https://t.co/r1IPivswWK

— M.A (@DoomHatesFilm) December 30, 2024

James Gunn defended the casting of High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by replying to racist presumptions, saying, “I chose the best actor, period, and the best person for the role. I don’t give a sh*t what ethnicity Chukwudi Iwuji is,” (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Kang has been white in comics, but he is shown as black in the MCU. Similarly, Electro and Mordo have been portrayed by black actors so far in movies. Norman Osborn is going to be black in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. 

Beau DeMayo’s previous comments on Sunspot’s race-swapping in X-Men ‘97

Although netizens have fired back at DeMayo for his hypocritical allegations by recalling his own decisions regarding Sunspot’s ethnicity, the X-Men ‘97 showrunner has previously defended his actions by saying on X,

Finally can address this! Marvel insisted he be Latino. I did push to darken his skin to reflect his Afro-Brazilian heritage but was given a flat-out “No.”

According to the above-mentioned statement, DeMayo wanted Sunspot to be black Brazilian but the studio’s interference didn’t let him do that. However, it can also be noted that the showrunner previously argued with fans when they called him out for Sunspot’s lighter skin after the initial looks of the show.

In a now-deleted post on X, Beau DeMayo stated (via Stellar Bussy on X),

So now you’re erasing his Brazilian heritage in favor of him being just black? How does this work? And I’m sorry I will push back against anyone who thinks I should jump at any accusation they decide to throw and explain myself. That is the essence of toxic fandom, seizing a leak and then running ten thousand miles with it while acting entitled to information that wasn’t supposed to be released to begin with…

Despite his insistence that the studio got in the way, stopping him from portraying Sunspot’s true origin, his defensive approach and his arguments have been self-contradictory. Such hypocrisy sort of makes the audience doubt the legitimacy of his critique.

X-Men ’97 is available to stream on Disney+.