The “X-Men” spin-off film “The New Mutants,” the last of the 20th Century Fox “X-Men” titles, has had a bad week.
Critical reviews have been bad, reports of Fox being on the verge of throwing the whole film out at one point did not help, and controversy over the whitewashing of an Afro-Latino character (replacing him with non-Black Brazilian actor Herny Zaga) has continued to swirl around the project.
Now comes another kick in the gut, this time from “New Mutants” comics co-creator Bob McLeod. McLeod and Chris Claremont co-created the comic in 1982 and McLeod has now taken to Facebook to voice his issues with the film – and he has a few:
“I was very excited when I heard they were making a New Mutants movie. I thought making it into a horror movie was perhaps an interesting idea, but not at all how the characters should be introduced to the public at large. But, hey, my characters in a movie! I never would have thought that would actually happen.
But then, I was disappointed when they didn’t give Dani braids, although I like Blu Hunt. I was disappointed when Rahne wasn’t a redhead with spiky hair, although I adore Maisie Williams. I was disappointed that Sam isn’t tall and gawky, although I do like Charlie Heaton. But mainly I was very disappointed that Roberto isn’t short and dark-skinned. Yet another example of Hollywood white-washing. There’s just no excuse.
So basically, #JoshBoone erased everything I contributed to the way the characters look. And now, the movie has come out at last, and apparently they’ve credited someone named Bob Macleod as co-creator. They couldn’t even be bothered to check the spelling of my name sometime in the last three years. And that can’t be fixed. That will be on the movie forever. I think I’m done with this movie.”
The film has opened in the United States, raking in $3.1 million on its opening day on Friday – suggesting a $7-10 million opening from about 62% of domestic locations currently open. Check out a new clip from the film below: