Dazzler’s great and all, but if you know us, you know our hearts belong to a different X-Universe rock star: Joan Jett lookalike and intergalactic super-thief Lila Cheney. So, when director Arvin Bautista–part of the team behind that amazing Dazzler video that dropped last year–dropped a line to let us know that their next project was going to feature Lila, we were pretty excited.
The video–“I Will Steal Your Heart,” embedded above, finally dropped today. And y’all.
Y’all.
I know you have jobs, and classes. I know you have responsibilities, and commutes. But please, whatever you’re doing, put it aside. Close your office door. Get a hall pass. Pull over. (Seriously, though, why are you reading blogs while driving? Don’t do that.) And then watch this video, because it is amazing.
There are New Mutants! Stevie freakin’ Hunter! Intergalactic heists! In-over-his-head Cannonball! Really, really catchy music! (Also some possibly recognizable t-shirts, and maybe some of your faces, if you were among the folks who responded to the casting call back in November!) And we’d be remiss not to mention Sage Montclair’s absolutely splendid performance as a super kickass Lila Cheney.
You can find more on both the Lila and Dazzler videos, as well as info about the folks behind ’em, production stills, &c. over at http://www.superheropop.com/
Thank you guys so much! I couldn’t have done this project without your support!
Oh, man, our pleasure!!
Seriously!!! This was so great.
Totally rad video! And can I say how cool it is that the New Mutants were played by age/racially appropriate actors? These are my new definitive (live-action) New Mutants. Every single one of them was spot on! I would watch a spinoff Jem-style mini-series of these kids fighting crime each week followed by an extended Lila Cheney music video.
Are you listening, Hollywood?
Well, except for Beto.
I mean, you’re not wrong. I was thinking earlier that he’s sort of the one exception there. I don’t know the actor’s background, so he *could* be a light-skinned person from a biracial family of South American descent, but you’re right that his accent definitely didn’t sound Brazilian. (But then again, neither does Amara’s. Shan doesn’t sound particularly Vietnamese/Francophonic either, but she’s a highly skilled polyglot, so I’ll forgive that one.)
But the others are all pretty great. Illyana’s accent and Warlock’s glitchy disguise are fantastic. And both Dani and Stevie are exactly how I picture them in my head.
Sunspot is meant to be be darker than that. He is the son of wealthy Afro-Brazilian businessman Emmanuel da Costa and a White Brazilian archaeologist Nina da Costa
Amazing.
This is so delightful! The new mutants are just spot-on perfect – Warlock was especially precious – and it just killed me! I am so glad they made such a great video, and the song is also just really, really awesome!!!!!!
Awwww. This is going to be a part of my happy place for the next little while.
Yes! A thousand times yes! The Dazzler video was awesome, but this is epic. Thanks for posting this, Jay and Miles, and SuperheroPOP for making this. Excuse me while I watch it over and over.
You’re welcome! I did it for you guys! (my bank account agrees with the previous statement)
So, I immediately shared this with my only RL friend who’s still an X-nerd. It prompted the following exchange:
Him: Sue me, but I think a Dazzler movie could be really fun
Me: OH YES YES YES
So hard to pitch right, but yes.
Him: Yeah it’s tricky. I think the key would be fun
Me: But REALLY soapy
Him: Yeah…by fun i mean keep it light…like one of those movies where the whole goal is to get the band signed to a label
Except she should probably start as a star
She could be an indie hit being courted by a label
Me: Naw, see my idea is she and Lila Cheny start out as tween sensations. Like Brittany and Xtina. But when puberty hits and they get their mutant powers, Dazzler accelerates on to pop stardom while Lila fades away. Cut to a few years later and Dazzler is on top of the charts. Suddenly Dazzler is knocked from her number one spot by the newly returned Lila, Who had apparently been using her teleportation powers to become more of a rock star across the galaxy. Dazzler is jealous, but she does her best to take the high road. Only Strong Guy comes to her to let her know that Lila is actually deep in the shit, that she got in trouble and she had to promise to steal the earth for some alien warlord.
If only guardians of the galaxy and the X properties weren’t in separate universes, cinematically.
Him: Nice
Im on board
Me: So, dazzler has to take Lila down, but also save her, but she can’t seem to do it without looking like she’s just super jealous. Hijinks, mutant powers, and power-pop-rock-ballads ensue. Real frenemies vibe.
SOMEONE MAKE THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW
Seconded!
Dangit! Ya beat me to it! I saw the “Magneto made some valid points” shirt make a cameo and thought Jay and Miles need to know about this!”
Should have known you already did.
Loved that Claremontean exposition made an appearance too…
Good fun. It does highlight one problem with the New Mutants though. Half of them are blonde, and all but one of the others have black hair. It makes it very hard to tell them apart sometimes, with the various artists and all.
That was fantastic! In a perfect world, this would lead to a New Mutants TV show set in the ’80s filmed to look like the ’80s (which is a nice touch in this video, by the way). I can picture how the Hellions would look and it’s glorious!
Well, so much for my mail of a few minutes ago – there you are in the credits and everything. 🙂
I love the heck out of this, so much.
That was super great. Loved seeing Guido at the end especially.
That was amazing! Going to assume that the girl with the Union Jack tank is classic Psylock.
This made me so ridiculously happy! It’s just so much fun and WOW did Sage Montclair make an amazing Lila Cheney!
I totally watched this video at work and had to fight the urge to not get up and dance.
I’m not a big New Mutants fan, but this video is awesome! I already watched three times.
My love for the New Mutants is already self evident, and this was both delighful and very well made.
Love all the little touches, but Warlock and his slightly unreliable human mode and slightly “not quite getting doing ‘human’ right”.
And it’s a fun 80’s style song too! Kudoes to all concerned!
God, I don’t know even where to start…
Arvin Bautista! Please, please marry me and bear my children!!! I don’t care what is your gender, really.
I’m trying to find a calm, reasoned way to express how much I love this, but the best I can do is
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS AMAZING
Hey guys, director Arvin Bautista be doing a LIVE Q&A on YouTube Friday, Feb 12 at 5pm PST! Send in your Lila Cheney/Dazzler/New Mutants questions early to guarantee they’ll be read on air and we’ll see you here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaVXZki-3-A
On researching this video, I still love the characters and the visuals, but I feel like the music could have rocked a bit harder. Lila looks like Joan Jett, but the song is a lot softer than Bad Reputation or I Love Rock’n’Roll. Bring the noise!
Rewatching, not researching. Stupid autocorrect.
She specifically warns against taking her to meet your parents…which actually went pretty well in the comics. It sets her right up for character growth.
As soon as I saw the awkward walking stride, I knew it was Warlock, and I knew I was in love.