The X-Men franchise has grown exponentially over the years with all kinds of movies, spinoffs and standalones. Where the other films have focused on the people who have turned their mutations into super powers, this movie plans on looking at the ugly side of what can happen to mutants who aren't lucky enough to end up at Professor X's academy.
What It's About
New Mutants is based on a series of Marvel Comics which follows a new group of students at Charles Xavier's Institute. The initial series was a lighter version that felt like a coming of age story, but the second iteration of the comics, upon which the movie is based, takes on a darker tone.
New Mutants will follow a group of adolescents as they enter a facility that they believe to be a hospital built for young mutants who can't control their powers yet. They quickly discover that the institution is less of a hospital and more of an asylum. The film is meant to be a horror movie, in the hopes that it's scary tone will single it out among the X-Men films.
Who's Who
Crew
- The movie will be directed by Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars). It should be interesting to see his take on a horror film when he has mostly done romances in the past.
- The script will be written by Boone and Knate Lee (Kidnap).
- Simon Kinberg is producing this film as well as directing and writing Dark Phoenix.
Cast
- Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) will play Magik, a Russian mutant with sorcery powers. Fun fact--she is Colassus' sister.
- Maisie Williams, (Game of Thrones) will play Rahne Sinclair, a young mutant with the ability to turn into a wolf. Arya Stark would have approved.
- Charlie Heaton, (Stranger Things) will play Cannonball AKA Sam Guthrie. He's supposed to be a quiet character with good intentions.
- Henry Zaga (XOXO) will play Sunspot or Roberto de Costa, a mutant with the ability to control energy from the sun.
- Blu Hunt (The Hollow) will play Mirage AKA Danielle Moonstar. She can create hallucinations based on hopes and fears, which lends itself pretty well to a horror film.
- Alice Braga (Queen of the South) will play Cecilia Reyes, a doctor at the facility with the ability to produce a protective field around herself which must be pretty helpful considering her job is to watch over mutants who can't control their powers.
- Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro) will reportedly feature in the film as a villain.
What's Been Released So Far
So far, a trailer and a few photos have been released.
The trailer doesn't give too much away in terms of plot, but you get the gist of what the movie will be about. There are shots of a few different characters being tested on in the facility, or encountering locked-up mutants. Between the jump scares, the aggressive mutants, and the creepy scientist, it looks pretty scary. The poster reinforces the more frightening elements that the trailer offered by featuring outlines of screaming faces emerging from what looks like some sort of sheet. Rahne Sinclair bears her fangs in it for all to see.
The photos that have been released on Twitter so far are very eerie. They show some of the main cast in cells, writing on the walls or staring out the window. However they choose to deal with their state of captivity, the situation looks pretty grim.
What We Want At Comic-Con
Unfortunately, because 20th Century Fox is focusing on The Predator this year, it's unlikely that the other movies, including New Mutants and Dark Phoenix, will take up much time at Comic-Con. But in a perfect world, we would get a new trailer, see the cast and crew, and get some questions answered about plot details.
New Mutants comes out August 2, 2019.