The Latest Additions To "New Mutants" Have Spawned Complicated Conversations About Race
It was recently announced that Blu Hunt will play Dani Moonstar and Henry Zaga will play Sunspot in Fox's new X-Men spin-off... and not everyone is happy about it.
The main cast of Fox's new X-Men spin-off New Mutants is now complete: On Friday, it was announced that Blu Hunt will play Dani Moonstar (also known as Mirage).
Previously, Anya Taylor-Joy was cast as Magik, Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane, Charlie Heaton as Cannonball, and Henry Zaga as Sunspot.
Dani Moonstar is one of the rare Native American superheroes in mainstream comics, and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie focuses on her famous "Demon Bear" storyline.
Marvel
After an international search, Hunt, who is part Native American, was cast to play the Cheyenne mutant. And though some were excited...
Hunt's social media accounts indicate that she has long identified with issues important to the indigenous community, especially the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Her caption reads: "Passive support isn't enough. There are multiple fundraisers to donate your money to, rallies to stand in at, petitions to sign, supply pick ups in Los Angeles, etc. Do your part to help even if it's small. #nodapl"
Around Thanksgiving, she posted: "Having native heritage and being a vegetarian always brings mixed emotions this time of the year. ... Most of us have a lot to be thankful for, but we can not be distracted. We must continue to fight for human rights, animal rights and protecting our planet."
"Honored to be playing the role of Dani Moonstar. Thank you @joshboonemovies for letting me be apart of her story and this amazing movie! 🌙🌟 #xmennewmutants #danimoonstar" (BuzzFeed News has reached out to a representative for Hunt for a further comment.)
When it was revealed on Thursday that Zaga would play Sunspot, some pointed out that his casting erases the blackness of the traditionally Afro-Latino character.
In his introduction in 1988's Marvel Graphic Novel #4, it's established that Roberto da Costa, aka Sunspot, is the son of an Afro-Brazilian father and white mother, and has faced discrimination due to his blackness.
Marvel Comics
1 / 2
2 / 2
Some fans of the character were quick to criticize the casting on Twitter.
We, and our partners, use technologies to process personal information, including IP addresses, pseudonymous identifiers associated with cookies, and in some cases mobile ad IDs. This information is processed to personalize content based on your interests, run and optimize marketing campaigns, measure the performance of ads and content, and derive insights about the audiences who engage with ads and content. This data is an integral part of how we operate our site, make revenue to support our staff, and generate relevant content for our audience. You can learn more about our data collection and use practices in our Privacy Policy.
If you wish to request that your personal information is not shared with third parties, please click on the below opt out button. Please note that after your opt out request is processed, we may still collect your information in order to operate our site.
We value your privacy
We and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at anytime by returning to this site.
BuzzFeed
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Third-party vendors
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
The Rubicon Project, Limited
Index Exchange, Inc.
comScore, Inc.
DoubleVerify Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Taboola Europe Limited
PubMatic, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
Google (DFP / AdX)
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Google (DFP / AdX)
Measurement
The collection of information about your use of the content, and combination with previously collected information, used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of the service. This does not include personalisation, the collection of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, i.e. on other service, such as websites or apps, over time.
{{ blurb }}
{{/blurb}} {{#picture_url}}