Marvel says it didn’t actually “fire” X-Men ’97 showrunner, simply “parted ways”

Earlier this week, a red flag fired up like an errant optic blast from Disney’s upcoming X-Men ’97 cartoon, when it was revealed that showrunner Beau DeMayo had abruptly departed the nostalgia-minded project under some very cloudy circumstances. Given that this happened roughly a week before the show was set to debut—and how prominent DeMayo, who pitched the series, acted as its primary cheerleader in the press, and served as head writer for both of its two already-written seasons, has been in that run-up—it’s not hard to see his departure as a signal that something was very wrong with the animated show.

Now, Marvel Studios has addressed DeMayo’s exit—sort of. Per Entertainment Weekly, studio TV head Brad Winderbaum fielded some questions this week about DeMayo’s departure, saying he couldn’t get into details, but pushed back on circulating assertions that DeMayo had been fired by the studio. “I don’t,” he responded, when asked if he’d characterize DeMayo’s exit as a firing. “‘We parted ways’ is the best way I could say.”

Winderbaum also praised DeMayo’s work on the series, saying “Beau had real respect and passion for these characters and wrote what I think are excellent scripts that really the rest of the team were able to draw inspiration from [to] build this amazing show that’s on screen.” He also made it clear that Disney is still really into the show itself, describing plans to line up a showrunner for a not-technically-ordered-yet third season. DeMayo, meanwhile, has been completely silent, with his social media presence having largely been scrubbed over the last week.

So: Marvel’s still using his work, still praising him publicly, but “Can’t talk about the details.” What the hell happened on this show?