While he won't be in it, The New Mutants features references to Professor X. Fox spent well over a decade building its X-Men franchise, but its final film won't match those that came before. While still being set within the same world as the X-Men films, The New Mutants is a largely standalone story. It follows five teens being held in a mysterious facility as they gradually uncover their powers and the secrets of their captivity. At one point, The New Mutants was supposed to include James McAvoy's Professor X, as well as Alexandra Shipp's Storm. However, they ended up being removed so The New Mutants could exist on its own.
The New Mutants has suffered several setbacks on its way to the big screen, as it was supposed to debut back in 2018. The Disney-Fox merger kept The New Mutants off the release calendar for several years, but it was finally granted a new date earlier this year. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic once again disrupted The New Mutants' arrival, and the film is currently scheduled for release on August 28. While there's still a chance it could be delayed again, Disney recently reaffirmed this date at the film's Comic-Con@Home panel.
/Film recently sat down with director Josh Boone and discussed the ways The New Mutants would've connected to the greater X-Men world. While the actual appearances of Storm and Charles Xavier have been removed, Boone mentions that there are still references to Xavier within the film. "Yeah, it’s there – they talk about Professor X and those things, but it doesn’t have cameos from anyone or anything like that," Boone said.
It'll be interesting to see how The New Mutants chooses to make mention of Professor X. Odds are, the young mutants have heard of him and might even briefly discuss him. Sadly, though, they won't find themselves under his tutelage. Instead, they're under Cecelia Reyes' (Alice Braga) care, and based on the foreboding nature of their surroundings, she won't be giving the nicest of lesson plans.
Keeping The New Mutants separate from the rest of the X-Men franchise certainly seems to be working in its favor, especially because it then allows the film to be its own thing. While it would have been interesting to see Professor X interact with the teens of The New Mutants, it'll have to be enough to just have them mention him. A lot of the excitement surrounding The New Mutants comes from the fact that it's a horror story that looks unlike any other comic book film, and hopefully Boone really leaned into that element. Provided it doesn't get delayed again, fans only have to wait one more month to see how The New Mutants all comes together.
Source: /Film
