Beau DeMayo, former showrunner of X-Men ’97, has criticized Marvel Studios for its practice of race-swapping traditionally white villains to Black characters. DeMayo, who was the head writer for X-Men ’97, shared his thoughts on social media, calling for Marvel to stop casting Black actors as villains.
His comments were sparked by the recent announcement that Norman Osborn will be portrayed as a Black man in the upcoming animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
DeMayo posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Hey Marvel Studios please stop race-swapping white villains to black people. It reads ‘funny.'” He listed several characters, including Kang, High Evolutionary, Norman Osborn, Electro, and Mordo, as examples of this trend.
DeMayo, a Black writer and producer, argued that such casting choices send the wrong message, especially to young audiences. He explained that when white heroes are shown defeating Black villains, it can create a problematic narrative.
“When the heroic good guy is nearly always white and canon white bad guys are made black for ‘representation’ it is a visual story of white good guys beating up black bad guys,” he wrote.
He also addressed his own involvement in the race-swapping of the character Sunspot in X-Men ’97, explaining that it was a directive from Marvel. “It was a Marvel directive,” DeMayo said. “They wanted ‘Latino representation’ on the team since Storm and Bishop were already Black.”
DeMayo’s comments add to the ongoing debate about Marvel’s approach to diversity and representation. While Marvel has made strides toward more diverse casting, the studio has faced criticism for its portrayal of Black villains.
Some, like Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger in Black Panther, have been praised for their depth and complexity. Others, like Jonathan Majors’ Kang in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, have been criticized for lacking depth.
Marvel’s casting choices have sparked a larger conversation about the balance between representation and storytelling. As the debate continues, it remains to be seen whether Marvel will make changes in response to the criticism.
