In 2018, fans will be treated to a triple dose of mutants from Fox. The next big X-Men film, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, is due to arrive in November and the highly anticipated sequel to Deadpool will be farting it up in the early summer. Finally, there's The New Mutants, the latest bold addition to the X-Men universe. Despite the fact that they share the same universe, the teenage characters of The New Mutants couldn't care less about the X-Men. According to New Mutants director Josh Boone, these kids are a bit more concerned with escaping a haunted asylum than trying out for the X-Men.
These kids could care less about being X-Men. They're so (messed) up and have had such horrible things happen, they're just trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. We just tried to pull this back and make it performance- and character-driven, and more grounded and credible than X-Men movies ever are.
The New Mutants is the latest in Fox's experiments with superhero movies. Whereas Deadpool was an R-rated comedy and Logan a dystopian western, The New Mutants is expected to be a horror film. Set in a mysterious asylum-type facility, the film follows five mutant teenagers with dangerous abilities they have trouble controlling. They haven't lived the best lives, and with a demon bear haunting them possibly in the mix, they've got bigger concerns than joining the X-Men, as far as director and co-writer Josh Boone is concerned.
Despite the fact that several members of the New Mutants become X-Men in the comics, Fox's premiere mutant team won't play a large factor in the story of The New Mutants. Josh Boone told USA Today that the teenagers in his movie couldn't care less about being X-Men when they just want to escape from a haunted asylum. The New Mutants is a character-driven horror film first and foremost, and it doesn't sound like there will be many references to the state of the X-Men and whatever they are up to.
Keeping the X-Men largely out of the picture is probably for the best. It gives The New Mutants more time to focus on its own story and characters, rather than having to also service the X-Men. That's a trick that worked wonders for Deadpool and Logan, both of which were mostly standalone films that were not closely tied to any other X-Men movies. Josh Boone has a horror trilogy in mind for The New Mutants, so let's hope that everything works out considering that the Disney-Fox deal leaves any future sequel plans up in the air.
The New Mutants is set to arrive in theaters on April 13, 2018. To learn more about the superhero movie, be sure to visit our What We Know So Far guide.
