Days after Bob McLeod posted a lengthy message on his social media platforms slamming The New Mutants, the long-time Marvel creator is telling fans it’s to calm down about his comments. Saturday morning, McLeod shared a series of tweets clarifying his original messaging, identifying his biggest issue with the project was the fact the studio spelled his name wrong in the credits.
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I’m a bit overwhelmed by the explosive news coverage my comments yesterday about the New Mutants movie received. For the record, I did not say it was a bad film. I haven’t even seen it, and I think it looks like great fun, actually.
— Bob McLeod (@mcleodbob) August 29, 2020
“I was merely expressing my disappointment that the characters didn’t have the signature attributes I gave them when I created their images,” the artist added. “Is it so surprising that would bother me? Particularly when the one character I didn’t create, Magik, looks so spot on like the comics?”
McLeod created the group of young mutants alongside iconic X-Men writer Chris Claremont. The group’s first appearance came in The New Mutants graphic novel released in 1982 before launching into their own ongoing series in 1983.
“And Henry Zaga not being dark-skinned like my Sunspot had already been an issue all over the news, so that wasn’t anything new, although it is a very troubling issue,” McLeod continued. “I have nothing against Henry Zaga as a person or an actor. I’ve never seen him act. I feel sorry for Zaga that he’s been hurt by something that is not at all his fault. I also totally understand that Josh Boone is fan of Bill Sienkiewicz’s art on the comic, not mine, and the movie is based on his Demon Bear storyline, and that’s great.”
McLeod’s latest Twitter statement concluded by adding, “I’m also a big fan of Bill’s art. The main thing that upset me was the misspelling of my name in the credits, which I’ve since earned has happened to many creators. I’ll get over it. Everyone needs to calm down.”
In his original round of social media postings on Friday, McLeod said, “So basically, Josh Boone 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 New Mutants is now playing in theaters.
