With The New Mutants finally making its way to theaters after years of delays, it brings a handful of memorable comic book characters to the big screen. The one character at the forefront of the story is Dani Moonstar.
Originally using the code name Psyche in the comics, Dani grew to become a leader of the New Mutants and moved on to numerous X-Men teams over the last three decades on the page. She's a beloved character who is getting her chance to shine as the lead of The New Mutants ensemble, but there are still plenty of questions fans might have about her — or not remember from her time in the comics.
When Did Dani First Appear In Comics?
Dani makes her comic book debut along with (most of) the members of the original New Mutants team. Instead of outright launching a new series, the team makes their debut in Marvel Graphic Novel #4. The series was a supersized comic book that allowed creators to tell longer stories for single issues — or test the waters for a new series.
Dani is taken in by Professor Xavier to learn how to use her abilities — projecting someone's darkest fears — because it's the last wish of her grandfather. She's wary of Xavier, but comes to trust the other teenagers she meets in the issue, and forms a team.
How Many Times Has She Appeared In Live-Action?
The New Mutants marks the first time the character appears in live-action form. Blu Hunt is the first actress to bring her to life outside of animation.
Interestingly, though Dani doesn't appear in the movie, she does appear in the novelization for X-Men: The Last Stand. Along with fellow New Mutants character Cannonball, she's recruited at the end of the novel to become the next generation at Xavier's school. That bit of the book may have been part of the original Last Stand script, but it didn't make it into the movie.
How Does Her Animated Portrayal Differ?
When Dani first appears in the comics, she can project someone's darkest fear around them. However, her animated appearance in X-Men: Evolution is a bit different.
There, her abilities are closer to that of a true telepath as she projects the hopes and fears directly into her targets' minds. When she's stuck in a cave-in, her psionic powers manage to protect her for years, but they also reach out to a passing Kitty Pryde for help, creating a vision of the two as friends in Kitty's mind, and leading to Kitty rescuing her.
What Other Unusual Team Did She Belong To?
Most New Mutants have gone on to become members of X-Men, X-Force, and other X-related teams. Leaving the New Mutants is a graduation of sorts. Dani, however, becomes a member of a group that's a little more out of this world.
While visiting Asgard, she rescues a winged horse, not realizing that when she does, the horse is going to bond with her. The horse accepts Dani as its rider, making her a Valkyrie. It's not a position she holds forever, but she does eventually make a deal with Hela so that she can access the powers after losing them.
Why Do Dani And Rahne Bond So Quickly In The Comics?
Before Dani ever takes on a code name, she becomes fast friends with Rahne Sinclair (who becomes Wolfsbane). That's before she ever trusts any of the other teenagers she teams up with. The movie sees them bond over tragedy, but that's not how they bond in the comics.
Instead, it's a result of a psionic link between the two. One aspect of Dani's abilities is being able to communicate with animals and understand what they're thinking. Because Rahne is still Rahne when she's in wolf form, she's able to talk to Dani. Rahne can speak with Dani when she can't speak with anyone else on the team. That ability to communicate — literally in one another's heads — makes them quickly see past their differences.
Is She A Telepath?
Despite Mirage's ability to communicate with animals, Dani isn't a true telepath. She can't see into every aspect of someone's mind, just their fears, and eventually their hopes.
Interestingly, her psionic abilities are still as strong as a telepath. She's able to use Professor Xavier's Cerebro to search for mutants, something only telepaths were able to do up to that point in the Uncanny X-Men comics.
Does Dani Have Any Siblings?
Plenty of characters have been revealed to have previously unknown siblings over the years. Ask anyone who calls Magneto their father. Dani doesn't appear to have any siblings in the main timeline (so far). That's not true, however, of alternate timelines.
During the Age Of Apocalypse event, the Dani of that timeline is one of Magneto's followers. She also happens to have a sister named Dana. Dana and Dani have the same power set, not unlike Dani's teammate Karma and her brother in the main comic book timeline.
What Job Did She Take As An Adult?
As someone who spent her formative years around other mutant teenagers just trying to figure things out, Dani knows how tough it can be to have powers and code name while trying to maintain a life. When she grows up in the comics, she puts her past experience to use as a teacher.
Not only does she train young mutants in the use of their gifts as the New Mutants' squad leader, but she also becomes an American history teacher at the Xavier Institute.
When Did She Become A S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent?
Mirage might never have appeared in live action on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., but she did work undercover for the organization in the comics — and it made her an enemy of most of her friends.
After deciding to stay in Asgard for a while, Dani eventually returned to Earth and wound up recruited for a special assignment by S.H.I.E.L.D., infiltrating the Mutant Liberation Front. Her job was to get intelligence to S.H.I.E.L.D. and sabotage missions without the terrorist group knowing, but it frequently meant she had to battle old friends.
Where Have Fans Seen Dani Before?
If movie fans think Blu Hunt looks familiar in her role as Dani, they've probably seen her in a few television projects. Before being cast in New Mutants, Hunt hadn't done much work outside of the theater, but she did have one popular television appearance.
Hunt played a villain for six episodes of The Vampire Diaries spin-off series, The Originals. Most recently, she's also been in the Netflix original series, Another Life.