The New Mutants teaser takes the X-Men franchise into horror territory

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Director Josh Boone said in interviews that he was making his X-MEN spin-off film THE NEW MUTANTS "a full-fledged horror movie", and 20th Century Fox CEO Stacey Snider backed up that claim, describing the project as a "haunted house movie" more similar to THE SHINING than the average superhero movie. But even though they were describing it as horror and making horror references, I didn't see the film going as deep into the genre as the newly released teaser trailer makes it appear to. This really is a dark horror movie trailer.

THE NEW MUTANTS will introduce viewers to 

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.

The cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin, a.k.a. Magik, "a girl who has learned sorcery and uses teleportation discs to travel"; Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane, "a girl struggling to reconcile her religious beliefs with her power to turn into a wolf"; Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball, "a mutant who uses the ability to fly at jet speeds while encased in an impenetrable force field"; Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa, a.k.a Sunspot, who has "the ability to manipulate solar energy"; Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar, a Native American telepath who is also known as Mirage; and Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a mentor to the New Mutants and "a medical doctor who has the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself." 

None of those mutant abilities are made obvious within the trailer, which markets the film as a straightforward haunted house movie, albeit one with the Marvel logo and the word "mutants" said in dialogue.

I like this trailer a lot and am looking forward to THE NEW MUTANTS even more now. The film is scheduled to reach theatres on April 13, 2018.