While Mantis may be one of the breakout characters from the successful Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, that doesn’t mean that everyone is happy with the character’s portrayal onscreen. One person in particular who was not impressed with the translation from comic book hero to the big screen was Steve Englehart, the man who came up with the character.
“That character [in the movie] has nothing to do with Mantis. I will say that I liked the film quite a bit overall, they’re doing good stuff and I enjoyed my night at the movies so long as I turned my brain off to the fact that that’s not Mantis up there. I really don’t know why you would take a character who is as distinctive as Mantis is and do a completely different character and still call her Mantis. That I do not know.”
Englehart created the character with the help of Don Heck in 1973’s Avengers No. 112. That version of the character was a human who would later ascend to cosmic awareness and become the “Celestial Madonna,” and eventual Avenger and Guardian of the Galaxy.
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David Gonzalez is the founder and chief film critic of Reel Talk Inc. and host of the Reel Chronicles and Chop Talk (80s horror) podcasts. As a Cuban American independent film critic, David writes fair and diverse criticism covering movies of all genres and spotlighting minority voices through Reel Talk. David has covered and reviewed films at Tribeca, TIFF, NYFF, Sundance, SXSW, and several other film festivals.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved Critic and a member of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA), New York Film Critics Online, Hollywood Film Critics Association, and the North American Film Critic Association.
As an avid film collector and awards watcher, David's finger is always on the industry's pulse. David informs and educates with knowledgeable and exciting content and has become a trusted resource for readers and listeners alike. Email him at david@reeltalkinc.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @reeltalkinc.
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