It's starting to getting harder to get excited over a new X-Men movie, but the in-development New Mutants could be the kick in the pants the X-Men franchise needs. With an all new cast and creative team behind it, New Mutants at least has the advantage of being fresh and adding some salt to a franchise that some believe has grown stale. There have been plenty of rumors as to who this new cast of characters will include, but now we might have our first confirmation of at least one mutant member of the super team. Check out this post from director Josh Boone.
Josh Boone is working hard at developing his X-Men spin-off New Mutants, and took to Twitter to share a picture of what looks like the first member of the team: Wolfsbane, the exclusively wolf based shapeshifter. And more than that, the picture (drawn by illustrator Ashely R. Guillory) depicts Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams as the character! This isn't exactly an official confirmation that Williams is in the film, but since the director himself is the one doing the posting, then we are more than likely looking at the first cast member of New Mutants.
Wolfsbane has been a core member of the New Mutants since the team's inception in 1982. It's long been rumored that the character would be in the film and that Maisie Williams was being courted to play the part. Though no one said this was officially happening, Williams did positively express an interest in doing the movie, saying that she'd "absolutely love" to be a part of it. It looks like she's getting her wish, but until 20th Century Fox issues an official statement, we'll keep our champagne bottle corked.
For those unfamiliar, Wolfsbane is a Scottish mutant with the ability to transform into a wolf, as well as a transitional state between wolf and human (a werewolf basically). She's been a staple of the New Mutants comic books, and it doesn't come as much of a surprise that she finds herself up on the big screen.
In addition to Wolfsbane, the rest of the team is rumored to be filled out by Cannonball, Magik, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, and Warlock. Anya Taylor-Joy (Split, The Witch) has been associated with the movie for as long as Maisie Williams, with rumors circulating that she is being pursued to play Magik. Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) is also apparently in the running to play Cannonball. There's been no official word on any of these castings just yet, but given the above tweet, we're likely in for some more news very soon.
New Mutants is written and directed by Josh Boone and currently does not have a release date.
