Last night, The New Mutants finally opened in theaters. Not surprisingly, the film didn’t pull big numbers in Thursday night previews. But one person who did manage to catch a screening was Bob McLeod, the artist who co-created The New Mutants with Chris Claremont in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately, McLeod wasn’t a fan of what he saw.
McLeod outlined his myriad problems with the film in a new Facebook post. The artist confessed that he was initially skeptical about his characters showing up in a horror movie. Regardless, McLeod couldn’t complain about seeing them in live-action for the first time, and he even praised the actors involved. Regardless, McLeod was dismayed that their characters’ appearances weren’t fully faithful to the comics.
“I was very excited when I heard they were making a New Mutants movie,” wrote McLeod. “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.”
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“But then, I was disappointed when they didn’t give Dani braids, although I like Blu Hunt,” continued McLeod. “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.”
McLeod then took aim at director Josh Boone for making these changes. However, this wasn’t even his biggest problem with the finished film.
“So basically, Josh Boone erased everything I contributed to the way the characters look,” noted McLeod. “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 New Mutants is now playing wherever theaters are open.
Do you share McLeod’s criticism of the movie? Let us know in the comment section below!
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