new mutants

Ah, ‘The New Mutants’. As the first of the now countless ‘X-Men’ spinoff titles, it occupies both a significant place in comics history and a special place in the hearts of many fans. And now, after nearly two decades of ‘X-Men’ films, the New Mutants are finally coming to the big screen. Much of what we’ve learned about the film to date has come in the wake of the October release of its debut trailer, but as the film’s April release inches closer, more information has begun to trickle out.

In the past, director Josh Boone has explained that ‘The New Mutants’ was pitched to Fox as a trilogy. Specifically, the pitch was for a trilogy of superhero/horror movies, inspired heavily by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz’s landmark run on the original ‘New Mutants’ comic, which fell between issues 18 and 38 of that series. In addition to the Claremont/Sienkiewicz run,  Boone envisions his trilogy as drawing on influences as diverse as the works of Stephen King, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’. Further, Boone has said that while the ‘New Mutants’ films will all be horror movies, each one will be a different style of horror movie. The first of the trilogy is described as a “rubber-reality supernatural horror movie” inspired by the classic ‘Demon Bear’ storyline.

While attending this year’s Comic-Con Experience (CCXP) in Sao Paulo, Boone took part in a Q&A session, along with Sienkiewicz, writer Knate Lee, and stars Henry Zaga and Alice Braga. Along with reiterating some of the things we already knew, the panel also shared a few new tidbits of information, including the following:

  • Boone confirmed that ‘The New Mutants’ takes place in the same universe as the current ‘X-Men’ films, including ‘Logan’ and ‘Deadpool’. While this in and of itself is not terribly surprising, a comment from Boone that fans will know a lot more after seeing the movie is likely a hint at story points connecting ‘New Mutants’ to prior X-films. A popular fan theory on that front is that the film’s antagonists will connect to either Essex Corp, the Workshop, Transigen (as glimpsed in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, ‘Deadpool’, and ‘Logan’, respectively, or some combination of the three.
  • Boone and the writers picked the characters that meant the most to them when populating the film’s cast. Boone also promised that Warlock will appear in the sequel. The inclusion of Warlock likewise suggests that Cypher may also join the sequel’s cast.
  • Sunspot’s father will play a role in the trilogy’s story. In the comics, Emmanual da Costa is a Brazilian businessman with ties to the Hellfire Club.
  • The kids have been institutionalized, ostensibly for their own benefit. Per the panel, this is due to their inability to properly control their newly manifesting powers, rendering those powers more of a curse than a blessing.

Directed by Josh Boone, ‘The New Mutants’ stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, and Alice Braga. The film is set for release on April 13, 2018.