Comics
‘New Mutants’ Was to Introduce Jon Hamm as Mr. Sinister; Antonio Banderas His Replacement!
In this lengthy article detailing the chaos behind the scenes of 20th Century Fox’s New Mutants, directed by Josh Boone, they revealed not only that fan favorite Warlock was initially part of the script (until he was deemed too expensive), but that Jon Hamm was going to appear as Mr. Sinister in a tag at the end of the film. In fact, “Boone filmed material that led up to that reveal, only for Fox to change their minds after shooting had been completed.” Now it’ll be Antonio Banderas playing an unspecified villain (one who isn’t expected to be Mr. Sinister) in the New Mutants tag.
In the film, “five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.”
The cast includes Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa a.k.a Sunspot, a mutant with the ability to absorb and channel solar power; Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar, the Native American telepath also known as “Mirage”; Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a medical doctor who has the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself but also has more going on than she lets on; Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin, also known as Magik, who uses teleportation; Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball; and Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane, who can turn into a wolf.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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