New Mutants has seen its fair share of horrors over the years. The Josh Boone-directed X-Men spinoff was filmed way back in 2017 for an April 2018 release, but was delayed after the arrival of the first trailer in order to undergo reshoots that would ultimately dial-up the horror. Those reshoots never took place, and after numerous delays in 2019 the fate if the Maisie Williams starrer looked bleaker than Dark Phoenix. For a while it seemed like Disney’s acquisition of Fox had rendered the New Mutants fairly stranded. Even Williams herself wasn’t positive that her superpowered effort would see the light of day.
But a lot can happen over the course of a few months, and this morning 20th Century Fox presented a new, fully-loaded trailer and an April theatrical release date for the film that many thought would quietly turn up on Disney+. Looking at the first post-delay clip, The New Mutants fully departs from the glossier superhero filter in favor of a grittier horror tale—a bold step away from most Marvel properties, which has worked for properties like Deadpool and Logan. Starring Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, and Charlie Heaton, this group of young mutants must try to survive their deepest fears within a thoroughly alarming psychiatric ward where horrors await them at every turn. Honestly, if they can survive the often unrelenting clutches of Development Hell, they can outlive anything.
The odds of The New Mutants showing up for its April 4 release look much better this time around, but if recent history leaves you experiencing some residual skepticism, we don’t blame you at all.