New Mutants is set to introduce a number of Marvel characters to mainstream audiences for the first time. Amongst this group of gifted mutant youngster, is a young woman by the name of Danielle Moonstar.
Moonstar is better known by her super hero name, Mirage. She has a long and complex history in the comics, but here's 10 things that you might not have known about this mutant and superhero, who will soon be stealing the show on the big screen.
10 CHEYENNE NATION
Moonstar's family and heritage is that of the Cheyenne Nation. This is a group of Native Americans who have a long tradition of being isolationist, but also practice some of their age old societal actions; for instance, their hierarchical leadership and living conditions.
As one of the older societies in the Marvel Universe, there have been a number of other notable characters associated with the nation. These include those who hold the Red Wolf mantle such as Thomas Thunderhead, as well as other mutants such as Forge.
9 PREJUDICES
Due to her upbringing and the isolation of her tribe, as well as the prejudices held against her, Moonstar held some controversial beliefs about those not of a Cheyenne background. In fact, she wasn't sure she could work with a group of teens with a Caucasian background.
As time went on though and she bonded with this gifted group of youngsters, she realized that they were not so different after all. She eventually apologized for her beliefs and learned how to be more tolerant of those with a different background to hers.
8 BLACK EAGLE'S MURDER
The Cheyenne nation has a system that has a chief; in this case her grandfather known as the Black Eagle. This was a man who actually brought her up due to the disappearance and presumed death of both of Mirage's parents.
It was a tragic moment in Moonstar's life when Black Eagle was actually killed by the Hellfire Club. This murder eventually lead her to team with Professor Xavier and his mutant trainees. At the end of this mission she continued with the group, becoming the New Mutants.
7 DEMON BEAR
The rumored villain of the exciting film based on the New Mutants is a creature known as the Demon Bear. The Bear has a particularly crucial relationship with Mirage herself; a relationship we assume will carry over to the big screen.
Moonstar is well known to have been orphaned at a young age, however her parents aren't really dead. They are in fact the Demon Bear, transformed against their will into a creature that has become obsessed with its daughter. The fate of these two was eventually reversed.
6 TEST ROOM TRAINEE
Every X-Men fan knows that the Test Room is a crucial part of the training process for any new student at the School for Gifted Mutants. Moonstar managed to showcase just how powerful she is, by defeating the test room.
Not only was this a huge moment for the character, but it showed what a valuable member to the team she would be. She completed the Test Room training on the very first day and succeeded where all of her teammates actually failed.
5 BRIGHTWIND
One of the most essential stories for the life of Mirage is the meeting of herself and her most loyal companion, Brightwind. This may seem like a strange name, but it's because Brightwind isn't a person, but rather a flying horse of the Valkyries.
Moonstar and Brightwind got along almost instantly and quickly formed a bond. Because of her personality and bond with the horse, Moonstar actually became part of the Valkyries and has moved in and out of Asgard for some time.
4 POWER FLUCTUATION
There's an important story here about Moonstar's actual powers and mutant abilities. Mirage was one of the characters affected by M day. She therefore lost her powers and spent some time in search of what to do now that her gifts were gone.
Her journey to the Valkyries was a huge part of her character development, as she gained new powers from this. However, these powers have also been taken away after an exile and her mutant gifts have returned now and then too. Her powers fluctuate a lot therefore.
3 UNDERCOVER WORK
During her time away from Asgard, Moonstar started working undercover, doing some serious espionage work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Her mission was to place herself in an extremist mutant group and try to gather intel. There was one major issue though.
The New Mutants, her old friends, actually fought against this group and she had to try to maintain her cover. She therefore fought her allies, but her sacrifice here eventually lead to a win for the good guys. She's also used her mutant gifts to spy for other mutants and organisations.
2 QUANTUM POWERS
At some stage Mirage's powers change completely again, when she takes on a new quantum energy. However, like any quantum tampering, she was extremely powerful, but the process was even more dangerous to herself.
Eventually her powers were removed, but the results of this created multiple versions of Moonstar, each of which represented an entirely different part of her personality. She would eventually reform and become powerless once more.
1 M-POX
Once Mirage was let back into Asgard and gifted her powers once more, she became extremely vital to the mutants on Earth. One of the abilities of the Valkyrie is to sense impeding danger and death. This would become very handy for tracking down ill mutants.
A deadly disease known as M-Pox had been created when the terrigen mist spread across the Earth, which in turn produced many new Inhumans. Moonstar could use her abilities to track down mutants who were about to die and help them as best as the X-Men could.