Back in May, 20th Century Fox closed a deal withThe Fault In Our StarsfilmmakerJosh Booneto write and direct theX-MenspinoffThe New Mutants. Last month, the filmmaker revealed on his Instagram page that he had completed the second draft of the screenplay and turned it in to producerSimon Kinberg, which is essentially all we know for sure about the project. Over the past few days, the filmmaker has taken to his official Instagram page, revealing six of themutant characterswho will be featured in this superhero adaptation.
The characters revealed by the director throughInstagramare Magik,Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock. Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Magik and Wolfsbane will be a part of the story. Anunconfirmed rumorsurfaced in March that claimedGame of ThronesstarMaisie Williamswill play Wolfsbane, a.k.a. Rahne Sinclair, withThe WitchstarAnya Taylor-Joyreportedly signing on to play Magik, a.k.a. Illya Rasputin, the younger sister of Colossus. That report also claimed thatX-Men: ApocalypsestarAlexandra Shippwill return as Storm, withSophie Turner(Jean Grey),Tye Sheridan(Cyclops) andKodi Smit-McPhee(Nightcrawler) also being eyed to return.
That report also claimed that Cannonball, Sunspot and Mirage were currently being cast, although we don’t know how far along the studio is in the casting process.DeadpoolstarBrianna Hildebrandis also said to reprise her role asNegasonic Teenage WarheadinThe New Mutants, withJames McAvoyalso expected to come back as Professor X. Of these characters revealed byJosh Boone, only Sunspot has appeared on the big screen before, withAdan Cantoplaying the character in 2014’sX-Men: Days of Future Past, but this is expected to be a younger version of Sunspot.
It seems that the filmmaker is sticking true to thecomic book origins, with these characters representing theNew Mutantslineup from the original comic books, created in 1982 byChris ClaremontandBob McLeod. It isn’t known if there will be a significant gap in time between the events of this month’sX-Men: ApocalypseandThe New Mutants, but ifAlexandra Shipp,Sophie Turner,Tye SheridanandKodi Smit-McPheedo reprise their roles, it seems possible that this movie will be set shortly after the events ofX-Men: Apocalypse. We don’t know for sure if there will be a direct tie-in toThe New MutantsinX-Men: Apocalypse, but we’ll find out when the movie hits theaters on May 27.
It’s possible thatThe New Mutantscould help form a bridge between the prequel trilogy that ends withX-Men: Apocalypse, which is set in 1983, and the originalX-Menmovie that came out in 2000. Then again, 2014’sX-Men: Days of Future Pastsignificantly altered the timeline, creating a new “present day,” so we’ll have to wait and see how this story takes shape. While we wait for new details, take a look atJosh Boone’s Instagram photos below, and stay tuned for more onThe New Mutants.
