“How are you different?”: Beau DeMayo Hates Marvel Turning White Characters Black, Forgets He Did the Same in X-Men ‘97

SUMMARY

• Writer Beau DeMayo recently put out an X (formerly Twitter) post criticizing Marvel's decision to race-swap Caucasian villains with Black actors.
• The controversial writer and creator of X-Men '97 was fired from his position earlier this year before the release of the series due to unspecified reasons.
• Fans called out DeMayo for his recent statement, criticizing him for hiring a white actor to voice Roberto da Costa a.k.a Sunspot in X-Men '97.

Screenwriter Beau DeMayo is best known for his work on X-Men ‘97, which he created and wrote before he was fired from his role. The writer has been quite active on social media, revealing trivia about the making of the series and his intentions with certain characters, while he has also been vocal about his opinion on various other media.

He recently criticized Marvel for race-swapping traditionally white characters in the comics to Black actors in the film. He took the example of characters Electro, High Evolutionary, and Kang for his statement. However, fans called out his hypocrisy, pointing out how he chose actor Gui Augustini, a white actor to voice Sunspot, a canonically Afro-Brazilian character.

Beau DeMayo criticizes Disney for race-swapping white villains in the MCU

Norman Osborne in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man | Credits: Disney+

The latest trailer of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man revealed that actor Colman Domingo will be voicing the role of Norman Osborn in the show. While Willem Dafoe has owned the role since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and even reprised the role in the MCU’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, he was sent away to his own universe by the end.

Domingo’s Osborne a.k.a Green Goblin is reportedly set in an alternate timeline in the MCU. However, the casting proved to be controversial as many seemed to have criticized Marvel for race-swapping the traditionally white character. While the alternative timeline setting may be a good reason, the decision has been criticized nonetheless.

Beau DeMayo | Credits: Instagram/BeauDeMayo

X-Men ‘97 creator Beau DeMayo called out Marvel for the decision with another angle. He called them out for race-swapping villainous characters who are canonically white in the comics with Black actors. He posted on his X (formerly Twitter) profile,

DeMayo cited examples of Kang, who was played by Jonathan Majors, Electro, who was played by Jamie Foxx, Mordo played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and the High Evolutionary played by Chukwudi Iwuji.

Beau DeMayo gets called out for hiring a white actor to voice canonically Afro-Brazilian Sunspot in X-Men ‘97

Sunspot in X-Men ’97

Beau DeMayo created and wrote the Disney+ series X-Men ‘97, which received rave reviews upon release. While he had already finished work on the second season and was pitching potential storylines for a third, DeMayo was fired by Marvel due to unspecified reasons only a few weeks before the premiere (via THR).

While the show was a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, DeMayo introduced several new characters before he was replaced. One such character was Sunspot, the mutant with the power to harness and absorb solar energy. The character was voiced by Gui Augustini in the series. 

Though Augustini has Brazilian roots, the casting has now been criticized by fans as Sunspot is canonical Afro-Brazilian. In light of Beau DeMayo criticizing Marvel for race-swapping characters in the films, fans called out the writer for his own hypocrisy in hiring a white actor to voice an Afro-Brazilian character.

Despite Augustini being Brazilian, the fans have been criticizing the move now. With the second season of X-Men ‘97 in development, it is still unclear whether Augustini will keep his job or be replaced by someone of the same race and ethnicity.

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

Written by Nishanth A

Articles Published: 1692

Nishanth A is a Media, English and Psychology graduate from Bangalore. He is an avid DC fanboy and loves the films of Christopher Nolan. He has published over 1,000 articles on FandomWire. When he's not fixating on the entire filmography of a director, he tries to write and direct films.