Hispanic Group Asks: Did ‘Logan’ Director Call TheWrap Reporter a Roach?
“Our community will not forget it,” says head of the National Hispanic Media Coalition
Tim Kenneally | March 8, 2017 @ 6:37 PM
Last Updated: March 8, 2017 @ 7:18 PM
Fox
“Logan” director James Mangold is under fire from a Hispanic media group that questioned whether he referred to TheWrap film reporter Umberto Gonzalez as a roach over the weekend.
Alex Nogales, president & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, focused on Mangold in a statement provided to TheWrap on Wednesday.
“When I was growing up picking the fruits and vegetables in season up and down the state of California, there were signs everywhere that said ‘No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed.’ We were called many derogatory names in those times, among them cockroaches,” Nogales said. “James Mangold is of the age where the use of this slur was still prevalent, and if he is referring to Umberto Gonzalez as a cockroach, or if he is referring to the cholos that appear in the opening sequence of his film as cockroaches, he is a racist and our community will not forget it.”
A representative for Mangold did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Although Logan does fight with some Hispanic men early in the film, no one uses any slurs against them.
Mangold’s use of the word “roaches” came during a heated Twitter exchange on Saturday, when Mangold accused Gonzalez — who uses the Twitter handle @elmayimbe — of harboring a “delusional sense of vindication” regarding a teaser for the upcoming “Deadpool” sequel appearing before “Logan” in the theaters.
“After reporting Deadpool appearing in LOGAN, @elmayimbe manages a delusional sense of vindication that there was a teaser b4 the film,” Mangold wrote. “SAD!”
Here’s the background. In December, Gonzalez reported for TheWrap that “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds had shot a scene for “Logan” — and cited a person close to the project who said the scene would most likely appear after the credits. Mangold, Reynolds and “Logan” star Hugh Jackman issued denials, which TheWrap promptly reported.
As theatergoers learned when “Logan” premiered in theaters last week, the segment Gonzalez reported on was actually a teaser for “Deadpool 2” that plays immediately before “Logan” and features Deadpool trying to foil a mugging outside a theater with “Logan” on the marquee, then mentioning Logan and imitating Jackman’s Australian accent.
Gonzalez and TheWrap noted that there was indeed a “Logan”-affiliated “Deadpool” sequence, as did several others.
Fox 46 news presenter Erick Weber tweeted, “@mang0ld @elmayimbe That’s kinda in the ballpark.”
Weber also tweeted, “Hey man, I don’t have a dog in the proverbial fight but there’s a shred of truth to DEADPOOL involved, trailer debut.”
Another Gonzalez supporter tweeted, “James as much as I love Logan, ur being a bit of an as-hole to a reporter that did his job. And wasn’t wrong.”
Gonzalez replied that Mangold was playing “a semantics game,” tweeting, “Didn’t report Deadpool would be in LOGAN, reported scene most likely a post credits sequence. You’re playing a semantics game & that’s SAD!”
When a fan tweeted to Mangold, “Amidst all the drama, you made an amazing film. Thank you for that,” Mangold replied: “Thank you. No drama. Just spraying roaches.”
After reporting Deadpool appearing in LOGAN, @elmayimbe manages a delusional sense of vindication that there was a teaser b4 the film. SAD!
Didn’t report Deadpool would be in LOGAN, reported scene most likely a post credits sequence. You’re playing a semantics game & that’s SAD! https://t.co/Q9cfKvVLdL
27 'Logan' Characters Ranked From Worst to Best (Photos)
Most of the mutants in the world of "Logan" are dead, and the ones that remain are broken and sad. They also make up the cast of the best superhero movie yet made. Here's the 27 most important characters gracing the final story of Hugh Jackman's take on the Wolverine, ranked.
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27. Mohawk Reaver (Krzysztof Soszynski) Seems this nameless member of the Reavers mercenary band was not properly briefed on what he'd be dealing with today. As a result, Laura cuts his head off, carries it outside, and offers it back to Pierce in the movie's most bad-ass moment. So he's useful for supplying Laura with awesome material, but not much else.
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22-26. The guys stripping Logan's car Logan's first victims of the movie. These guys had it coming when they responded to a friendly limo driver politely asking them not to steal his wheels with a shotgun blast. They also had no respect for the request not to shoot at the trunk, where Logan's suit was kept.
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21. Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant) Zander Rice is the Alkali Transigen scientist responsible for the X-23 and X-24 projects, and he thinks that makes him a big deal. Logan takes him out before he can even give his big "we're not so different, you and I" speech, which makes him pretty much nothing but a heel.
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17-20. The Reavers Logan murders in the casino hotel These guys had some tragic exits from the mortal coil. When Professor Xavier's seizure renders them unable to move, they get to watch in abject terror as Logan slowly stalked toward them and then stabbed them all in the brains. It'd be sad if they didn't have it coming for choosing to be bad guys.
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16. Caliban (Stephen Merchant) Logan is pretty mean to Caliban despite him being nice enough to risk his life every day in caring for Professor X. Still, Caliban's willingness to stick around and his sacrifice for his friends makes him a good dude, even if he doesn't have much to do but be an off-screen victim.
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15. X-24 (Hugh Jackman) Take away all of Logan's brooding character development and person anguish and you have this guy. X-24 is all rage and claws. Not only are his rage-induced superviolent rampages fun to watch, watching his body get grossly ruined and then heal himself is perversely satisfying.
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14. Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) The cyborg leader of the Reavers has a certain ruthless charm. He's mostly just a hired gun who follows orders, and he'd be a little more interesting with some more motivations. Still, he makes a pretty good Darth Vader as he hunts Logan.
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13. Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez, who for some reason is not in any "Logan" marketing materials!) Gabriela and the other nurses took care of the X-23 test subject kids at Transigen. When the company wanted to murder the children, the nurses risked their lives to save them. Gabriela doesn't make it to Eden, but she was braver and more selfless than just about anyone else in the movie.
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10-12. The Munsons (Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Quincy Fouse) A hard-working farm family in middle America, fighting the local corporate d-bags who want to run them off their land. Their end is completely undeserved and super tragic, but they're cool folks before they go. They almost could have been the protagonists of their own non-superhero drama.
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4-9. Child mutants Alkali Transigen hoped to turn these kids into mind-controlled monsters, and instead they just became kids who can do cool things -- such as murder the main bad guy with the earth itself.
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3. Logan (Hugh Jackman Through eight other movies, the man known as Wolverine has basically endured nothing but pain, tragedy, loss and immortality. It finally all catches up with him, but at least Old Man Logan gets a murdery, R-rated chance at redemption, and it's an absolutely phenomenal way to send him off.
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2. Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) Sarcastic nonagenarian Professor X is obviously the best Professor X. He takes no bull from Logan, teaches Laura a thing or two, and is generally the movie's comic relief with his ornery old man ways.
20th Century Fox
1. Laura/X-23 (Dafne Keen) Coolest mutant kid ever. Laura is insanely deadly, transitioning from being a regular kid to a feral murder machine and back again. She learns the value of life and family through stabbing bad guys. Give this kid an Oscar.
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The final movie of the Hugh Jackman Wolverine era is here, and it’s full of complex characters
Most of the mutants in the world of "Logan" are dead, and the ones that remain are broken and sad. They also make up the cast of the best superhero movie yet made. Here's the 27 most important characters gracing the final story of Hugh Jackman's take on the Wolverine, ranked.