From the moment we learned Demon Bear may be the antagonist of Josh Boone's New Mutants film, it was clear this would not be your ordinary X-Men spinoff. Demon Bear debuted in 1983 with the arrival of impressionistic artist Bill Sienkiwicz, and along with writer Chris Claremont they took the teenaged mutants on a much darker course than you would see in typical superhero comics, bordering on horror comics, actually. And it appears that Boone is going to follow in that direction, based on his comments to EW...
“We are making a full-fledged horror movie set within the X-Men universe. There are no costumes. There are no supervillains. We’re trying to do something very, very different.”
That's a pretty bold move but not totally unexpected. Again, Demon Bear was kind of a giveaway, but also because Fox seems intent on doing new things with comic book movies in general. One only need to look at Logan to see their willingness for that.
So far the only confirmed casting is Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane and Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik, but the site says 13 Reasons Why's Henry Zaga (he played Tony's boyfriend) is close to nabbing the role of Roberto "Sunspot" DaCosta, who was last seen in X-Men: Days of Future Past. They also note unconfirmed sources that say Rosario Dawson is up for an unspecified role, and I have no idea who that could be. Maybe Selene, the Black Queen? I'd kill to see that. The roles of Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar, and Warlock still need to be filled. Nat Wolff had been up for Cannonball but that may have fallen through.
As for the plot, it'll focus on the danger mutants pose when their powers are brand new, which is why Professor Xavier always tries to find them early. Here's the logline from a close source: “Held in a secret facility against their will, five new mutants have to battle the dangers of their powers, as well as the sins of their past. They aren’t out to save the world — they’re just trying to save themselves.”
Just because Boone plans on making a horror, he's still aiming for a PG-13 rating rather than the ever-popular 'R'. Filming on The New Mutants begins in July and should open on April 13th 2018.
