The cast of 20th Century Fox’s ‘X-Men’ spin-off ‘New Mutants’ is coming together. Rosario Dawson is reportedly playing Doctor Cecilia Reyes, a mutant in the comics who can generate force fields, but ultimately is more interested in saving lives as a surgeon than a superhero. It appears she will serve as a mentor to these new kids. As for the team itself, it consists of Anya-Taylor Joy (‘The Witch’) as Illyana Rasputin/Magik, who has the mutant power to teleport and is a master sorceress and the sister of the X-Men’s Colossus, Maisie Williams (Arya Stark on ‘Game of Thrones’) as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, an Irish mutant that, in the comics, is the ward of Moira MacTaggert (played by Rose Byrne in the films), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan on ‘Stranger Things’) as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, a “hillbilly” from Kentucky whose powers were co-opted by Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hilldebrand) in ‘Deadpool’, Blu Hunt (‘The Originals’) as Danielle “Dani” Moonstar/Mirage, a Native American character who co-leads the team with Cannonball, and Henry Zaga (’13 Reasons Why’) as Roberto DaCosta/Sunspot, a solar-powered character played by Adan Canto in ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’.
Now it appears a sixth mutant may be added to the mix, Karma a.k.a. X’Ian (pronounced “Shan”) Coy-Manh, a mutant with the power to possess others.
Project Casting released a new casting call for:
YOUNG FEMALE – 18 to 22 years old; Asian
Scheduled to shoot in MA for one or more days between 7/20 and 8/16.
It’s vague, but her race is specific. The character is Vietnamese in the comics. But there are other Asian female characters. It’s highly unlikely that they will be recasting Jubilee, who was played by Lana Condor in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ and may return in ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’. Some are speculating that this could be a casting call for Armor/Hisako Ichiki a character created by Joss Whedon during his time writing the ‘X-Men’ comic books. She can create a suit of energy body armor and formed a close bond with Wolverine. She’s a newer character, whereas Karma was a founding member of the New Mutants. But anything is possible and the producers may want to mix things up a bit. But there are rumors that Armor may actually appear in ‘Deadpool 2’.
Project Casting also posted another casting call for:
YOUNG ANNA – Female, 9 – 12; preferably blonde, or willing to temporary color; Russian accent or Russian language skills.
The names in these casting calls are always misdirects. This is more likely a call for a younger version of Illyana. In the comics, Illyana was a little girl when her older brother Pyotr “Peter” was recruited for the X-Men. She was abducted into the magical dimension of Limbo and because time flows faster there, when she returned, having mastered the mystic arts, she was suddenly a teenager.
This is all speculation of course. The young Illyana part is almost a given, but the Asian female role is a bit open and doesn’t seem to be a major role as they didn’t even bother to come up with a fake name for her.
Are you excited that Karma may find her way onto this super team?
‘New Mutants’ will be directed by Josh Boone, based on a script by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber and Knate Gwaltney. It stars Anya-Taylor Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga, Happy Anderson and possibly Rosario Dawson. It is due to arrive in theaters on April 13, 2018.
Source: Project Casting via Omega Underground
