Prior to cinematic universes and the popularity of the superhero genre, 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise was in theaters. The mutant-centric property had a long run with a revolving cast of actors, but the studio's acquisition by Disney seemingly ended the main franchise with Dark Phoenix. But there's one X-Men movie that still hasn't hit theaters, Josh Boone's spinoff The New Mutants. The blockbuster has been delayed countless times over the years, but could it actually end up as a bonafide trilogy?
The New Mutants' fate was seemingly decided before its release, as the movie will be released after Disney already took ownership of 20th Century Fox. The movie has also been delayed so many times that it's unclear exactly how it'll perform once finally hitting theaters. But despite this, director Josh Boone still plans for a three-movie arc, which would form The New Mutants into a trilogy. As he recently put it,
Ultimately, after all this time, I was able to make MY New Mutants film, and I'm am proud of it. What I'm hoping for now is that it will be successful enough so the studio will allow me to complete a trilogy. I've got all planned out.
Well, this is exciting. Because despite the main X-Men franchise coming to an end with Simon Kinberg's Dark Phoenix, Josh Boone is still hopeful that The New Mutants could succeed, and therefore inspire Disney to continue with the burgeoning franchise. Of course, we'll have to wait and see how the movie performs when it hits theaters at the end of August.
Josh Boone's comments to SFX Magazine (via Twitter) will no doubt help build anticipation for The New Mutants. Fans have been waiting years to see what Boone has up his sleeve for the horror infused superhero movie, eager to see a new type of comic book adaptation. And it turns out that his plans expand much farther than one movie.
The New Mutants has had a wild road to theaters, one that still feels uncertain. Josh Boone and the cast completed principal photography back in September of 2017, with plans for reshoots. But those reshoots never happened, as the movie was pushed back and the studio eventually became the property of Disney. The House of Mouse finally chose a new release date for April 2020, before eventually being pushed back to August. Of course, we'll have to monitor when theaters actually reopen safely.
As a reminder, you can check out the trailer for The New Mutants below.
Obviously the contents of The New Mutants are being kept under wraps, but it's exciting to hear that Josh Boone actually has plans for a full trilogy. Since the long-gestating blockbuster will see the titular group of superpowered teens meet each other and become a team, it would be interesting to see them grow as bonafide superheroes.
While the X-Men franchise is a wrap for now, fans would love to see some crossovers between The New Mutants and the Deadpool franchise. Anya Taylor-Joy's character Magik is actually the sister of X-Man Colossus, so there's a clear opening there. We'll just have to see exactly what Disney has in store for Marvel's mutants as time goes on.
The New Mutants is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 28th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
