According to Comicbook, head writer and creator of X-Men ‘97 Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight, The Witcher) said in post on X that episode four was planned to be more about Forge and Storm’s relationship. However, an unnamed co-executive producer “stole the episode away and gave it to an editor on #WhatIf to redo it to her vision, which coincidentally eviscerated about 1/3 of Storm’s story and split Ep4 into two separate pieces.
Additionally, fans felt the episode “Motendo / Lifedeath – Part 1” was rushed. The original plan of the episode via DeMayo was to focus heavily on the Storm-Forge storyline from the original X-Men comics, as in the title. Storm was supposed to have a buildup of the conformation with the Adversary.
Comicbook states that the initial opening was supposed to reenact a scene from the comic where Forge comforts Storm when she’s at her lowest.However, along with the What If…? editor cutting the scene, DeMayo heard a “comic collector speech from them”
DeMayo was also interested in Gil Birmingham (Yellowstone, Twilight) portraying the voice of Forgue, but there were too many complex aspects that led him to deny the role. However, after a 2-hour meeting with DeMayo, Birmingham agreed to the role. Since this is his second time having a role that was played with, fans will see if Birmingham sticks to his word.
The cast members include Adrian Hough (Web of Desire, American Badger), A.J. LoCascio (The Pirate Fairy, Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, You Kill Me), Cal Dood (Spider-Man, Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups), Chris Potter (The Good Witch, Heartland), Christine Uhebe (SEAL Team, The Rookie), Courtenay Taylor (Regular Show, Sins of the Night), David Errigo Jr (Ridley Jones, Migration), Donna Jay Fulks (Sonic the Hedgehog, Henry Danger), George Buza (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Adventures of Sinbad), Gui Agustini (Mother Doesn’t Know Best, Spidey and His Amazing Friends), Holly Chou (Blue Eye Samurai, The Big Sick), Issac Robinson-Smith (Eyes of Wakanda, Resident Evil: Death Island), Jennifer Hale (Totally Spies, Ralph Breaks the Internet), JP Karliak (Eden, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz), Kimberly Woods (Barbie: Star Light Adventure, Westworld), Lenore Zann (Cold Sweat, The Madones), Martha Marion (The Wave, Star Wars: Battlefront), Matthew Waterson (The Croods: Family Tree, Wizards), Ray Chase (Justice League Dark, Your Name.), Ron Rubin (The Avengers, The Mr. Men Show) and Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead, Invincible).
DeMayo was fired in March 2024 for alleged misbehavior despite having written parts of the animated series’ second season. However, he continuously speaks up for himself and against Marvel Studios via X. The first season of X-Men ‘97 is available to stream exclusively on Disney+.