'The New Mutants' could be Fox’s finest ‘X-Men' movie but after 2 years of incessant delays, may never hit theaters
‘X-Men’ fans have been eagerly awaiting the upcoming teen horror film ‘The New Mutants’ for a very long time now. The movie was meant to take the ‘X-Men’ franchise in a brand new direction and a trailer released in October 2017 got a lot of fans very hyped up for its release. Which is why it’s so unfortunate the movie has not been released, despite completing production.
‘The New Mutants’ was originally scheduled for release on April 13, 2018. A lot of great actors were cast in the movie including Anya Taylor-Joy ('Split') as Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Maisie Williams ('Game of Thrones') as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Charlie Heaton ('Stranger Things') as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Henry Zaga ('Trinkets') as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Blu Hunt ('The Originals') as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage, and Alice Braga ('Queen of the South') as Cecilia Reyes.
For those who aren't that familiar with the 'X-Men' comics, the New Mutants are a junior team of young mutants who are still in training at Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Over time, the characters have grown into fan-favorites and some of them have become prominent members of both the X-Men and the Avengers.
The movie planned on taking the characters in a somewhat different direction from the comics, focusing on the more scary side of the team's history. You can check out the movie's trailer here to get an idea for yourself:
At the time of its release, the trailer's dark, horror vibe instantly captured the attention of fans who were tired of the usual fare of superhero movies. It was arguably the best idea Fox ever had for an ‘X-Men’ movie but unfortunately, the film was delayed to February 22, 2019.
According to some reports, the release was delayed because Fox wanted to rework the movie and make it a lot scarier. In March 2018, the film’s release was postponed once again, this time to August 2, 2019.
According to ScreenRant, the movie was pushed to August because Fox couldn’t complete the required reshoots in time as all the film’s actors have very busy schedules and by March 2019, there was still no definitive plan on how the reshoots may be completed. Post the Fox-Disney merger, it became clear that ‘The New Mutants’ would be the last movie in Fox’s ‘X-Men’ franchise, which made it even more important that it be done perfectly.
Some reports suggested the movie may not make it to theaters and might instead be released on Disney+, especially after the abysmal performance of ‘Dark Phoenix’. Disney soon put those rumors to rest and made it clear the film would indeed be coming to theaters.
On May 7, Disney pushed the film once more, this time to April 2020. With Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirming there are plans to bring the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some fans are starting to think ‘The New Mutants’ may never see the light of day.
It’s almost tragic to see what could potentially have been the best ‘X-Men’ movie ever get stuck in post-production chaos. It’s even more tragic when you realize the movie actually completed filming in September 2017 and that there is a version of the film that is currently in Disney’s possession.
Unfortunately, there is still a long wait ahead before fans can actually see the movie, that is if it ever gets released. As of now, ‘The New Mutants’ is scheduled to hit theaters on April 3, 2020. Whether it actually does make the date, only time will tell.