Bob McLeod, the “New Mutants” comic series’ co-creator, took to Facebook Friday to express his concerns over the new film, including white-washing and the misspelling of his own name in the credits.
“I was very excited when I heard they were making a New Mutants movie,” his Facebook post starts. “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 as more information became available, he began to dislike creative choices made by the film’s team. He went on to list that he was unhappy with how many of the characters looked in comparison to the comics. His complaints ranged from body types being inaccurate to signature hairstyles being ignored.
Disney, which is releasing “The New Mutants” after acquiring 20th Century Fox, did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment on the post.
McLeod noted that he has no problems with the actors themselves, adding that he adores Maisie Williams. But the casting for the Brazilian character Roberto (Henry Zaga), or Sunspot, caused much more of an issue for the creator.
“Mainly I was very disappointed that Roberto isn’t short and dark-skinned,” McLeod said. “Yet another example of Hollywood white-washing. There’s just no excuse.”
He listed problems with four of the five main characters in the film, adding that he feels that director Josh Boone rid them of any design aspects McLeod put in the comics. He also said he’s not credited properly in the film, since it lists a “Bob Macleod” as a co-creator in his place.
“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,” he said. “That will be on the movie forever. I think I’m done with this movie.”
But after someone commented on the post suggesting that he try to request a change to the credits ahead of the film’s DVD release, he responded that fellow artist Bill Sienkiewicz is working to ensure the problem gets corrected.