Alice Braga has been cast in New Mutants, in a role that originally had Rosario Dawson lined up to play. Over the past several months, New Mutants has transformed from one of Fox's numerous long-in-development X-Men films into one of the more unique and promising superhero movies slated to come out next year. That's in no small part thanks to the film's all-star cast of young up and coming actors, which includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik and Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane, Charlie Heaton as Cannonball, Blu Hunt as Mirage, Henry Zaga as Sunspot, and more.

But in a cast that's mostly filled with younger actors in the industry, a report last month came out saying that Fox was courting none other than Marvel TV favorite, Rosario Dawson, for a role in the film. While nothing was ever officially announced, New Mutants director Josh Boone did later confirm that Dawson was in talks for the role, and many had assumed that the deal had likely gone through, with Dawson set to play one of the only known adults in New Mutants.

However, it turns out that was not the case after all. In a new report today, THR reveals that Queen of the South star, Alice Braga, has officially been cast in New Mutants as a replacement to Dawson. Braga will play Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a medical doctor with the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself - though as the report mysteriously teases, "has more going on than she lets on." The report states that the reasons for Dawson's departure from the project are unclear.

Braga's casting comes just in time for New Mutants, which is set to begin principal photography next month in Boston. In preparation for filming as well, several of the film's main cast members have been seen bonding and sharing time together beforehand, likely in order to build a chemistry that translates well onto the big screen. And in addition to the film's stellar creative talent, New Mutants is also shaping up to be yet another unique and distinct addition to Fox's growing X-Men cinematic universe.

Following the overwhelmingly positive critical and box office receptions of both Deadpool and Logan, Fox is reportedly looking to create more and more unique superhero films in the coming years. New Mutants is just the next film to adopt that style, with early comments stating that it will be a "full-fledged" horror film with influences taken from the works of John Hughes and Stephen King. Following a group of five mutants, struggling to learn how to control their new powers while also escaping from a secret facility they're being held in, the film is being built up as much more intimate and psychological than most other comic book movies. If New Mutants is able to deliver on that description, then it could very well prove to be yet another comic book movie success for 20th Century Fox.

NEXT: First X-Men: Dark Phoenix Cast Photo Emerges

Source: THR

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