X-Men ’97’s axed creator speaks out after devastating Episode 5

X-Men’ 97 left Marvel fans emotionally drained after the devastating events in Episode 5 — and now the show’s creator has addressed what went down.

From the outset of X-Men ’97 Episode 5, titled ‘Remember It’, it should have been a happy occasion: conflicts seemed to have been resolved, and Genosha was set to be accepted into the United Nations.

Unfortunately, things don’t go to plan: a Master Mold sentinel emerges and launches a deadly attack, killing hundreds of mutants. Two X-Men appear to die in the battle: Magneto and Gambit, with the episode ending on Rogue cradling Gambit’s body, whispering “I can’t feel him” as it cuts to black.

It’s the show’s Infinity War moment, and some have even described it as the MCU equivalent of Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding. In a statement, DeMayo — who was fired by Marvel just before X-Men ’97 premiered — has spoken out about the episode.

“Lotta questions and so I’ll momentarily break silence to answer. Episode 5 was the centerpiece of my pitch to Marvel in November 2020. The idea being to have the X-Men mirror the journey that any of us who grew up on the original show have experience since being kids in the 90s,” he explained in an Instagram story.

“The world was a seeming safer place for us, where a character like Storm would comment on how skin-based racism was ‘quaint’ in ‘One Man’s Worth.’ For the most part, to our young minds, the world was a simple place of right and wrong, where questions about identity and social justice had relatively clear cut answers.”

DeMayo then cited 9/11 as a major turning point not only for the world, but his own journey. “9/11 was also when I came out of the closet to my family and realized not everyone would accept me,” he wrote.

“Reality — as Jubilee found out in Episode 4 — got very real and very scary…. if you were like me, you would actually watch old episodes of the OG cartoon to comfort myself and take yourself back… but just like Roberto warned Jubilee, there’s a danger of living in the past and clinging to nostalgia. There’s a danger of not letting go of who we think we are, as Cyclops and Jean are learning. It leaves us stagnant, and dangerously unaware of a future we didn’t anticipate.

“Yes, it looked like Gambit’s story was going a specific direction. The crop top was chosen to make you love him. Him pulling off his shirt was intentional. There’s a reason he told Rogue any fool would suffer her hand in a dance, even if it ended up not being him suffering. But if events like 9/11, Tulsa, Charlottesville, or Pulse Nightclub teach you anything, it’s that too many stories are often cut far too short. I partied at Pulse. It was my club. I have so many great memories of its awesome white lounge. It was, like Genosha, a safe space for me and everyone like me to dance and laugh and be free. I thought about this a lot when crafting this season and this episode, and how the gay community in Orlando to heal from that event.”

You can find out more about X-Men ’97’s release schedule, and how Gambit’s death could lead to him becoming a Horseman of the Apocalypse.