X-Men spin-off film The New Mutants may only have put out one trailer so far but it seems to have already made a lasting impression. That could largely be down to the fact that it’s a flat-out horror film, a first as far as Marvel’s band of misfit heroes are concerned.
However, it looks as though we should start getting used to the idea, as director Josh Boone has revealed that the film is just the first of three.
Speaking to IGN, Boone said: “We brought it to Fox as a trilogy of films, really all based on that long run by Bill Sienkiewicz [‘The New Mutants’ vol. 1 #18–31, 35–38], and kind of incorporates some stuff from later issues in the ’80s.
“These are all going to be horror movies, and they’re all be their own distinct kind of horror movies. This is certainly the ‘rubber-reality’ supernatural horror movie. The next one will be a completely different kind of horror movie. Our take was just go examine the horror genre through comic book movies and make each one its own distinct sort of horror film. Drawing from the big events that we love in the comics.”
For those surprised about the X-Men going down the horror route with The New Mutants, the concept isn’t actually too far removed from FOX’s other recently superhero movies.
“FOX made Deadpool and Logan and they were sort of so tonally different they felt embolden to let us go make it different, and make have its own distinct tone and identity,” says Boone. “I think of the mainline X-Men movies more as grand operative science-fiction films. This is much more of a performance-driven horror film.”
In the IGN interview, Boone also confirmed that The New Mutants is definitely part of the ongoing X-Men cinematic universe, but we’re just going to have to wait to find out how.
The New Mutants stars Alice Braga (Dr Cecilia Reyes), Anya Taylor-Joy (Magik), Maisie Williams (Wolfsbane), Charlie Heaton (Cannonball), Henry Zaga (Sunspot) and Blu Hunt (Moonstar). It was directed by Josh Boone and written by Boone and Knate Lee.
The New Mutants will be released on 13 April 2018. Keep up with the latest genre news with the new issue of SciFiNow.