As New Mutants gets ready to begin shooting, most of the main cast has been assembled, but there was one actor whose involvement in the next X-Men movie wasn't confirmed. Rosario Dawson, who has already left her Marvel mark by playing Claire Temple in the MCU Netflix shows, was reportedly in talks to play the team's mentor, but news just broke that Dawson has dropped out. But her character didn't stay uncast for long, as she's been replaced by Queen of the South star Alice Braga.
Why Rosario Dawson departed New Mutants wasn't revealed, but THR is reporting Alice Braga has stepped in to fill her shoes. She will Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a medical doctor who has the mutant ability to generate a protective bio-field around her body, but also "has more going on than she lets on." While it was originally rumored that James McAvoy's Professor X would be the one guiding the cinematic New Mutants like he does with the regular X-Men, that was later debunked, and Reyes will instead serve as the mentor.
Acting since the late 1990s, Alice Braga's notable credits include I Am Legend, Repo Men, Predators, Elysium and The Shack. She currently stars as Teresa Mendoza on the USA Network series Queen of the South, which premiered its second season earlier this month. While she certainly has a sizable list of movies on her resume, no doubt New Mutants will be her biggest theatrical appearance yet. As for Cecilia Reyes, she debuted in the comics in 1997's X-Men Vol. 2 #65. She has the same bio-field generation ability as her movie counterpart will have, which she has also used for offensive purposes at times.
While no plot details for New Mutants haven't been revealed yet, director Josh Boone described the movie as having a "horror-thriller" bent, thus following in Deadpool and Logan's footsteps by going for a different tone compared to the main X-Men movies. The cinematic New Mutants lineup will consist of Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik, Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane, Charlie Heaton as Cannonball, Roberta da Costa as Sunspot and Blu Hunt as Mirage. The team will also include extraterrestrial member Warlock, who is rumored to be a motion-capture creation. These five mutants and one alien will reportedly be battling Demon Bear, who draws its power from negative human emotion.
New Mutants will be released in theaters on April 13, 2018. And don't forget to browse through our X-Men movie guide to see what other projects are coming up in the mutant franchise.
