In 1982, the fourth issue of the Marvel Graphic Novel featured a new group of characters. Among them, Roberto da Costa made his debut. Though he didn't have the moniker of Sunspot just yet, he'd go on to become a major player in New Mutants - and a whole lot of other X-Men adjacent teams in the comics.
Sunspot makes his way to the big screen in Josh Boone's New Mutants, but he isn't exactly the same as his comic book counterpart. Fans now have several burning questions about Sunspot that require some answering.
When Did Roberto's Powers First Manifest?
When Roberto was a teenager, he had a deep love for soccer, or football where he's from in Brazil. His powers first debuted during a match.
While playing against another team, Roberto was treated unfairly, targeted and harassed by the other team, and when the referees did nothing about it, his anger caused his power to spike. He absorbed energy from the sun that increased his strength, allowing him to throw one of the players that insulted him clear across the stadium.
How Have His Powers Changed Over The Years?
Originally, his power seemed to be purely based on super strength. After absorbing energy from the sun (or even some from other stars), he could covert that energy to boost his own strength. Over time, how he could use the sun's energy evolved.
Roberto learned to control the energy in order to propel him into flight, for example. He also became more durable, learning how to use the energy to protect himself in a fight - a stark contrast to his early days in comics where his teammates frequently had to remind him he wasn't invulnerable.
Why Is There Controversy Surrounding His Live Action Casting?
A lot of comic book fans - as well as the New Mutants' co-creator Bob McLeod - are not particularly happy with Roberto's appearance in live action.
Roberto is an Afro-Latino character. His ethnicity informs a lot of what he goes through in the comics, including his initial power emergence. Those who torment him on the soccer field are racists. He was drawn with dark skin in his original appearances, but some artists have lightened his skin tone over the years. With a light-skinned actor cast in the role, and a light-colored twitter emjoi depicting the character, fans remain unhappy with the whitewashing of the role.
How Many Times Has The Character Appeared In Live Action?
Sunspot hasn't seen as many depictions outside of the comics as some of the characters he's worked with over the years. In fact, he's only appeared in animation once and live action twice.
Adan Canto portrayed a version of the character in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, but his character didn't last long in the events of the future. Henry Zaga plays the new teen version of the character in New Mutants.
Which Team Member Is Roberto Closest To?
The original group of New Mutants - Sunspot, Psyche (later Mirage), Wolfsbane, Karma, and Cannonball - become incredibly close over their original adventures. There's one person in particular that Roberto becomes closest to over the years - even though they're both interested in the same girl at one point.
Cannonball, real name Sam Guthrie, and Roberto become the best of friends. Roberto even ends up in space with Sam and his wife at one point. The couple name him godfather of their son Josiah.
How Many Superhero Teams Has He Been A Part Of?
A lot of the New Mutants have gone on to become part of other superhero teams and organizations. Many moved on to X-Factor when the first New Mutants run came to an end, and others became X-Men.
Roberto departed X-Factor shortly after it formed, but in addition to the New Mutants, he also became a part of the X-Men, founded the US Avengers, ran part of the X-Corporation, and more. He even took over Advanced Idea Mechanics in the name of good and ran the family business. He's been part of at least 10 of the Marvel comic book teams.
How Is Roberto Connected To Cloak And Dagger?
Marvel has a history of interesting team-ups amongst different teams of heroes. The Marvel Team-Up Annual allowed for characters to team up outside of their normal storylines for stand-alone issues.
In the sixth issue, Spider-Man tracked the work of Cloak and Dagger, only to cross paths with some of the members of the New Mutants. The same drug dealers who caused Cloak and Dagger to develop their powers targeted Sunspot and Rahne, thinking they could use them. When the two team members were captured and injected with the drug, they attacked everyone in site. Cloak and Dagger managed to cure them using their own powers of light and darkness.
Was He A Member Of The Hellfire Club?
The Hellfire Club has always been associated with villains in the comics, so it might seem strange to see Roberto's name associated with the group. His father, however, was a member. Roberto eventually took over the club completely - but not as a villain.
Instead, Roberto was invited to take his father's seat under false pretenses. He believed he would be changing the club to the side of good. Eventually, when he became the leader, he tried to do just that.
How Many Languages Can He Speak?
Though the New Mutants movie only shows Roberto speaking English, the comics have him fluent in a few different languages. Since he's from Brazil, it's probably not a surprise that he's written as fluent in Brazilian Portuguese. It is the dominant language in the country, after all.
In addition to English and Brazilian Portuguese, Roberto also speaks Spanish in the comics, and one language of the future. He becomes fluent in Askani, a language spoken on Earth in the alternate timeline that Cable is from. Roberto is able to speak it as a result of Cable trying to heal him at one point. He ended up transferring some of his knowledge of Askani to Roberto at the time.
Was Roberto Headed To The Olympics?
Before Roberto's powers were revealed, his future was pretty much certain. With his family's wealth behind him, Roberto had access to coaches to help prepare him for a career in soccer.
Roberto's focus was primarily on his athletic future. He intended to train and take his love for the sport straight to the Olympics. Whether or not Roberto would have made it is a mystery.