The New Mutants star Henry Zaga is ready to return as Sunspot in a U.S.Avengers movie. The New Mutants came out this weekend as one of the first films to release during the coronavirus pandemic. Developed and filmed prior to Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox, the movie has faced many delays. Unfortunately, despite the long wait, initial reviews for The New Mutants have been disappointing. However, the film's box office numbers are a little more promising, at least considering many theaters around the country are still closed. As of now, The New Mutants has earned $7 million in its opening weekend domestically, making for the biggest haul since the theaters that are open did so.
Even setting aside its release during the pandemic, the movie hasn't been without controversy. Some of it has involved Zaga's Sunspot, with many accusing The New Mutants of whitewashing the character. In the comics, Sunspot is typically portrayed as darker skinned, which readers have been quick to point out. New Mutants co-creator Bob McLeod even weighed in this week, voicing his disappointment at Sunspot's lighter skin. However, despite the controversy surrounding the movie, some are still hoping for a sequel, or at least for some of the characters to show up in future Marvel movies.
Zaga is clearly hoping for this as well. Speaking with ComicBookMovie, the actor revealed where he'd like to take Sunspot next:
Yeah, man, I want to go and create the U.S.Avengers! Let’s go! I’m ready, I’m older, I’m excited, I think the fans have been very vocal about what they want, so I don’t know, I was just reading it for fun, for inspiration, and was just thinking, “Oh my God, there’s so much here!,” like it goes to so many different places. Sky’s the limit, we’ll see.
U.S.Avengers is a comic book series featuring an offshoot team of heroes. Sunspot leads the group, though under the alias Citizen V. He's joined by notable characters like Red Hulk, Squirrel Girl, and Cannonball. The series ran from January 2017-June 2018. As Sunspot's time with the U.S.Avengers is a key part of his story, it makes sense Zaga is hoping to portray it on screen. However, at this time, that seems unlikely.
Though The New Mutants was planned to be the start of a trilogy, that went out the window when Disney acquired Fox. The studio has its own Marvel Cinematic Universe to worry about and will likely want to start fresh with any X-Men characters. Though a U.S.Avengers adaptation could happen at some point, it will probably be a long way down the line and with a completely new cast. This would allow Marvel Studios to more easily make the movie a part of the MCU. For now, Zaga's portrayal of Sunspot in The New Mutants will have to do.
Source: ComicBookMovie