It’s been quite a while since I had any New Mutants movie news to share. In fact, it was back in May of this year when I reported on the potential character cast list for the movie. You can find that article at this link: https://www.comicbooked.com/lineup-new-mutants-movie/ . In it we discussed Magik, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Dani Moonstar and Sunspot as featured characters based upon a Phil Noto art piece posted online by director Josh Boone that featured these characters. We also discussed Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams casting as Wolfsbane. In August, we had a tease that The Witch actress Anya Taylor-Joy would portray Magik – Illyana Rasputin – in the 2018 Fox Studios picture. “ I think the world is really fascinating. I would love to be a part of it. I think its wonderful” Taylor-Joy said at the time in reference to the universe of the X-Men. These will be the original New Mutants, not the Liefeldian X-Force extreme team of the 1990s.
But there hasn’t been much public movement on the movie. Until now.
This week an animatic storyboard was “leaked” online. The animatic shows the characters in the original photograph from Boone engaged in a night time battle with Demon Bear. The clip opens up with Magik standing outside of a hospital – presumably Mid-County Medical Center from New Mutants # 18 – with Lockheed. Demon Bear rushed Magik but then changes direction to head towards a glass skyway at the hospital where we see a stretcher. This is most likely Moonstar, whose spine was damaged during a Danger Room mauling by the bear. It appears that Wolfsbane (Maisie’s character) is pushing the stretcher just as Demon Bear leaps, literally, through the skyway and utterly destroys the bridge, glass shards flying everywhere and mixing with the heavy snowfall. Wolfsbane pushes Moonstar down the hospital corridor where we then see Cannonball appear who immediately powers up and blasts towards Demon Bear, knocking him backwards and away from the injured Moonstar. Towards the beginning of the animatic, we see a flash of another world. Was this a mistake or … The Badlands? It was in the Badlands that the team, with the help of Magik’s Soulsword, finally defeated the Demon Bear.
You can see the clip here: http://tools.gawker-labs.com/iframe/embeds/1460
While this is being called a “leak”, director Josh Boone seems to be rather alright with it. In fact, he was happy to confirm to another website that the story boards were drawn by Ashley Guillory.
This week we also learned of the actor who will play Cannonball onscreen and that is Nat Wolff (Death Note, Paper Towns, The Fault In Our Stars).
So now we have castings seemingly confirmed as well as a hint at the direction and tone of the movie. We also have some comic book issues from which we can garner further information and fill in some holes (which I did above). Demon Bear first appeared as a hallucination in New Mutants # 3 but his first full appearance is New Mutants # 18 and the animatic follows along with this story line from issues 18 and 19.
Another thing that we have learned is the movie will – and you can see it in the clip – be a darker movie. ComingSoon.Net has said their source confirm New Mutants “is described as a horror movie in the style of Stephen King by way of John Hughes”.
After watching the animatic, that makes sense.
It will feature a bunch of mutant kids fighting a demon bear. Sounds like some classic 1980s Sci-Fi awesomeness like Netflix’s Stranger Things. Finally, the movie is apparently being targeted for a spring of 2018 release. While this is, of course, still fluid there is an untitled Fox movie scheduled for the 29th of June, 2018. Producer Simon Kingberg is targeting the middle of 2017 to start shooting. That seems to line up with the release date and it also means we should be getting more news, more casting and possibly some more concept art.
Will we see the New Mutants battle Demon Bear on June 29, 2018? Hopefully Josh Boone will tell us soon.
Nice summary!