The Hollywood Reporter announced earlier today that Fox’s highly-anticipated X-Men spinoff, called New Mutants, has begun its casting process. Maisie Williams (of Game of Thrones fame) will make up part of the ensemble, and so will Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split).
Josh Boone has signed on to direct, having also written the New Mutants script with his Knate Lee. It’s just too bad most of the original X-Men probably won’t appear in the film, or else we could get another Stark family reunion between Arya (actress Williams) and her sister Sansa (Sophie Turner, who played Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse). But, hey, there’s still time for a rewrite!
Simon Kinberg and Karen Rosenfelt are producing the film, which is based on the 1983 comic book series, which was in and of itself a spin-off of the X-Men franchise. Originally created by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, the comic centered around Professor X recruiting young mutants who were too young to understand their powers after losing several of his former students. What could go wrong?
The angsty teens who make up the New Mutants include Danielle Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball and Magik. The last one, played by Taylor-Joy, will have a bit of a Deadpool connection. Turns out Magik is Colossus’ sister, which will hopefully open the door to a light crossover somewhere down the line. Her powers include run-of-the-mill sorcery and teleportation with the aid of her discs.
Williams, on the other hand, will play Wolfsbane. Raised by a local Presbyterian minister, she experiences quite a crisis of conscience when she suffers from lycanthropy and becomes a creature shunned by her religion.
New Mutants will be released on April 13, 2018. In the meantime, THR reports that Fox is doing its best to cast the rest of the team with the appropriate diversity. Moonstar should be Native American, and Sunspot is meant to be Brazilian. Fingers crossed they follow through!