Why X-Men '97 Season 2 Took So Long To Make - And Why It Won't Happen With Season 3

Fans of "X-Men '97" have had to endure more than two years of waiting between seasons. Fortunately, that's not going to happen again. That is, if producer Larry Houston is to be believed. And given that he's a key creative behind the acclaimed Marvel Studios series, we have reason to believe the man.

Speaking with The Direct ahead of the premiere of "X-Men '97" Season 2 (which sees Apocalypse arriving at the worst possible time), Houston addressed the long wait between seasons. Season 1 premiered on Disney+ in March 2024, with Season 2 arriving in July of this year. The producer chalked it up to production problems, ones that he assures won't occur again. Here's what he had to say about it:

"Luckily, the production problems won't occur again. There was a huge gap of time between [Seasons] 1 and 2. They've learned their lessons, so with [Seasons] 3 and 4, that won't happen again. [...] That was a one-off."

As for the production problems that Houston is referring to? "X-Men '97" creator Beau DeMayo was fired a week before the series premiered, which came as a major shock at the time. Marvel Studios had a pretty close working relationship with DeMayo, so that made the whole thing all the more surprising, seeing as he had worked on other Marvel projects such as "Moon Knight" and the long-gestating "Blade" reboot as well.

Marvel hit back at DeMayo following some "X-Men '97" Season 2 credit drama that emerged following his abrupt firing. "Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately, and he has no further affiliation with Marvel," a Marvel spokesperson said at the time in August 2024. It was said at the time that his firing "involved sexual misconduct."

The drama certainly didn't end there. Beau DeMayo later slammed Marvel's "What If...?" Season 3 in December 2024. It got ugly, and without diving into the messy and complex specifics of the situation, it's easy to see how that all threw a wrench in the gears of production on "X-Men '97." Marvel Studios and Disney had a lot to sort out before Magneto and the rest of the mutants could move forth with the already-in-development second season.

Barring another wildly unforeseen wrench in the gears, it's easy to imagine that this was indeed a one-off situation and that Marvel Studios will get on a more regular production timeline with "X-Men '97" moving forward. The series has already been renewed for Season 3, meaning that its creative team didn't have to wait to get work started. Instead, they were able to press forth now that the behind-the-scenes drama has settled down.

Meanwhile, the response to the show's second season has been very positive thus far. /Film's Devin Meenan called "X-Men '97" Season 2 a "dazzling sequel" in his review. The synopsis for the upcoming sophomore season reads as follows:

"X-Men '97" Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home. Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the X-Men's absence.

"X-Men '97" Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on July 1, 2026.