What If...? Season 3 has been a festive treat for many MCU fans, delivering the final installment of the animated series with new episodes releasing on Disney+ daily from December 22. The new season has seen a more divided set of reviews from both critics and audiences, but perhaps its most scathing review has come from former Marvel Studios showrunner Beau DeMayo.
via: CB
In a new set of social media reaction posts, DeMayo wrote “#whatif season 3 yikes just yikes”. He then posted “I’d watch more to give notes on how it could’ve easily been done better but I have some water to watch boil”.
The shade didn’t end there, as DeMayo went beyond ripping into the content of What If…? Season 3 and started calling out the executives behind the show, by name!
“This is also the season where AC Bradley completely stepped back for Chauncey to take over,” DeMayo said in one post, referring to the creative changes behind the scenes at Marvel Studios Animation, which saw What If…? Season 1 and 2 writer/showrunner AC Bradley being replaced by Matthew Chauncey. Chauncey also happens to be the person Marvel tapped to replace DeMayo as head writer of X-Men ’97 in Season 3 of that show – so this critique of What… If? Season 3 comes with some obvious personal concerns on DeMayo’s part.
The former X-Men ’97 showrunner went on to spill some creative tea, writing about the irony of some of the creative notes he received on the show: “I know Marvel and Chauncey tore up my intercut time hopping across the first episodes because it was ‘too complicated,’” DeMayo posted. “Yet complication and layers is what this show #whatif needed”, he added, noting that the new season of What If…? “has no substance and feels like fanfic. The dialogue is flat and so obvious, and some of the premises are just weird.”
Ignoring the obvious personal bias that Beau DeMayo is going to have in this situation, it must be noted that he’s not alone in his assertion that What If…? Season 3 has seen a notable drop in quality: the third season’s release has come with a massive drop-off in hype from the surge seen with Season 2. Fan criticisms of uninspired episode concepts and story arcs have been commonplace in What If…? Season 3 reactions, which is exactly the sentiment that DeMayo is echoing.
Beau DeMayo’s name has generated big headlines in the last year, after Marvel Studios Animation fired him from X-Men ’97 due to allegations of misconduct that are still somewhat unclear. Since then he’s been active on social media and unafraid to fire back at Disney/Marvel with his own allegations of toxic workplace conditions and discrimination.
This latest tirade against What If…? Season 3 also saw Marvel Studios catch stray shots from DeMayo. He made a point to refute quotes from What If…? Season 3 director Bryan Andrews, who claimed that What If…? couldn’t use more mutant characters because the showmakers weren’t aware the Disney-Fox deal was being done (in 2019). “They were very well aware that the rights. We had convos. Absolutely bullsh*t. Again, just liars,” DeMayo posted in response. “They came and asked my #xmen97 team and I what character they could use in #WhatIf Season 3 and we pointed them to What If #12 (1990) This is like the lying BS with T’Chaka”.
This last statement refers back to another X-Men ’97 PR battle: Season 1 of the show featured a cameo from Black Panther – only it was King T’Chaka, father of T’Challa. Some fans felt cameo should pay homage to Black Panther movie star Chadwick Boseman; DeMayo was forced to be silent until his NDA agreement with Marvel expired. He finally cleared the air about the choice. It marks a pattern of DeMayo popping up to routinely demonstrate how Disney/Marvel allegedly uses PR spin to control narratives – like the narrative surrounding his firing. This time, however, it also seems like DeMayo wants to create early separation between the work that he did on X-Men ’97 and what fans may see by the time Season 3 arrives – because if What If…? is any indication, it could be a substantial drop-off in quality.
What If…? & X-Men ’97 stream on Disney+.
Comentários