X-Men: Apocalypseis officially confirmed to not only wrap up the trilogy that started withX-Men: First Classin 2011 and continued on in 2014’sX-Men: Days of Future Past, but also the entire franchise as we know it, under the guiding hand of producerBryan Singer, who has directed four of the seven live-action movies. This is happening just as 20th Century Fox plans to broaden its own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And one of the ways they plan to do that is with two more comic-book based franchises,The New MutantsandX-Force. But really, what will be different about these incoming chapters of what is essentially the same saga?
We’re not sure howX-Forcewill deviate off the path laid out by the previous X-Men movies. But we now know thatThe New Mutantswill be aimed at a younger audience. Speaking withEmpiremagazine, producerSimon Kinberg, who is behind the whole slate of X-Men related movies at Fox, had this to say.
" That’s more of a Young Adult movie.
What does this mean exactly? Especially since it is young adults who so hungrily devour the X-Men movies to begin with? The YA novel explosion over the past few years has seen the genre blow up at the box office, with sci-fi action dramas such asTwilight,The Hunger Games,DivergentandThe Maze Runnerpulling in big business. Can we expect a movie that is more inline with those releases than what we’ve seen so far on the big screen in terms of Mutants? When it comes to the big YA movies in question, most feature a female lead faced with troubling romantic prospects. YA and a female-led love triangle are synonymous with each other at this point.
So, willThe New Mutantsbe more of a female-led romance than what we’ve seen before? We’re not sure, asSimon Kinbergdoesn’t give us much more to go on. What we do know is thatThe New Mutantswill be introduced viaNegasonic Teenage Warheadin this February’s X-Men spinoffDeadpool. While NTW wears a New Mutants uniform in the movie, we don’t know how the team itself will be represented, if at all.
We haven’t heard anything aboutThe New Mutantssince May, but this summer, it was announced that filmmakerJosh Boone, best known forThe Fault in Our Stars, is co-writing and directing the Marvel adventure. Knate Gwaltney (Kidnap) is co-writing the screenplay, withSimon Kinbergset to producing alongsideLauren Shuler Donner.Simon Kinbergconfirmed the news himself. This is what he had to say seven months ago.
“We’re so excited to explore this new part of the X-Men universe, and so excited to do it with Josh, who is uniquely suited to tell this story about young characters.”
This superhero action thriller will introduce a new crop of mutants, although it isn’t exactly clear which ones will be used in this adaptation. First introduced in a 1982 Marvel graphic novel,The New Mutantsreceived their own monthly comic book in 1983, with the team comprised of much younger mutants who all attended Professor Xavier’s school. The original lineup consisted of Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Karma and Dani Moonstar, along with Professor X, but the team had an always-evolving roster that included other characters such as Warlock, Mirage, Karma, Magma and Cypher, so it’s anybody’s guess who this adaptation could include. Negasonic Teenage Warhead was never part ofThe New Mutantsin the comic books, but her young age certainly fits in with the storyline being set up. Will we see her torn between two other super-powered beings in a Mutant love triangle?
At the timeJosh Boonewas first announced as the direct ofThe New Mutants, the movie was said to be a long ways off.Josh Boonewill next makeThe Vampire Chroniclesfor Universal Pictures, a reboot ofInterview with the Vampire, and then he is moving on toThe Stand, so it will likely be a few years beforeThe New Mutantsstarts production.
