The New Mutants gets a new synopsis that digs into powers and X-Men links

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Up to this point, director Josh Boone's Marvel Comics adaptation THE NEW MUTANTS (which may or may not reach theatres on August 28th, depending on the pandemic situation) has had a rather short and simple synopsis that said the film is about 

a diverse cadre of teens learning to cope with their superpowers. These new mutants find themselves held in a secret facility against their will and must battle the dangers of their powers, as well as the sins of their past.

Now a new, longer synopsis has arrived online, one that lets us know what sort of superpowers the teens have and reveals that one of the characters is related to Colossus from the X-MEN franchise: 

In this terrifying, action-fueled film based on the MARVEL comic series, five young people who demonstrate special powers are brought to a secret institution to undergo treatments they are told will cure them of the dangers of their powers. Included are Danielle Moonstar aka Mirage (Blu Hunt), who creates illusions from other people’s fears; Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), who transforms into the werewolf Wolfsbane; Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), who, as Cannonball, can fly at jet speeds protected by a force field; Roberto da Costa aka Sunspot (Henry Zaga), who absorbs and channels solar power; and Illyana Rasputin aka Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy). The younger sister of Colossus, Magik becomes encased in armor at will and wields a soulsword that amplifies her multiple superhuman and psychic abilities. 

Invited by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga) to share their stories about when their powers first manifested, the five “patients” come to understand that they are in a class of people called mutants, who have historically been marginalized and feared. As they relive their origin stories, their memories seem to turn into terrifying realities. Soon, they question what is real and what isn’t, and it becomes clear that the institution isn’t what it seems. Now the question is — why are they being held captive? And who is trying to destroy them? 

The tension and horror mount in this white-knuckle thrill ride directed by Josh Boone and co-written by Boone and Knate Lee.

Speaking to Slash Film, Boone revealed that THE NEW MUTANTS was originally going to have a very direct connection to the Fox X-MEN films, as the Dr. Cecilia Reyes character was written into the script to replace X-Men member Storm. He explained, 

We were lucky. They really did want it to be different than other stuff. They really pushed us to keep it separate from X-Men stuff, even though it's set in the X-Men universe. We had early drafts that were supposed to be in the same timeline as X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, so it was originally going to be set in the '80s. Originally, Professor X and Storm were in it, and Storm very much played the Alice Braga role. Over the course of months, a new studio head came in, they said they didn't want any X-Men movies to take place in the past anymore, as if that was the reason that X-MEN: APOCALYPSE was bad. So we were put in the position where we kind of rewrote it to be set now in a nebulous point in time, because nobody knew how the movies had turned out. DARK PHOENIX wasn't out yet. Yeah, it's there – they talk about Professor X and those things, but it doesn't have cameos from anyone or anything like that."

It's especially lucky that THE NEW MUTANTS is separate from the Fox X-MEN movies, because that franchise has come to an end. Fox was purchased by Disney, so the X-Men are expected to be rebooted so they can now share the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Avengers.