Fox originally wanted their final X-Men film New Mutants as a part of the X-Men: Apocalypse timeline. After an unprecedented amount of delays and setbacks, the final chapter in Fox's X-Men history, which began in 2000, will be written on April 3. New Mutants’ was originally set to release in April 2018, and after multiple release date changes and Disney’s takeover of Fox, Disney has allowed Josh Boone’s unique X-Men tale to get a full theatrical release this April. Disney even helped promote the film with an impressive New Mutants poster that really captures the horror element of Boone’s Marvel story.
Unlike previous X-Men films, New Mutants’ five central mutant characters do not find themselves in Professor X’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Instead, the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Magik, Maisie Williams’ Wolfsbane, and the rest of the mutants are in a sinister asylum against their will, and they soon realize it is not a place that is there to help them with their powers. The horror and gritty elements are certainly different, and Taylor-Joy even praised New Mutants for having a tone “unlike any” other film. Considering how different this is, it’s surprising to know the film was once a project Fox wanted as part of its X-Men: Apocalypse timeline and even director Boone was surprised because of how different New Mutants was from the rest.
During Screen Rant’s visit to the set of New Mutants in August 2017, Boone explained how the film was originally set in X-Men Apocalypse's ‘80s timeline “with Professor X in it.” He also explained how surprised he was that Fox gave the go-ahead for this project because of how its tone compared to the other X-Men films: “It’s funny man, they’re so emboldened by Deadpool and Logan and that they really let us - I can’t believe they’re letting us make this movie. If they knew all the stuff in this, I’m still like 'Do they know how f-cked up this movie is?’” He even went on to explain how the few scenes he had shown people at the time made them cry, asking himself the question if they were “going to make people cry?”
Had Fox gone ahead with inserting New Mutants into the Apocalypse timeline, it would have certainly been a unique crossover due to the “f-cked up” nature of Boone’s project. It would have been fascinating to possibly see Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) or Storm (Alexandra Shipp) in the extremely dark setting of New Mutants’ world. Especially the character of Xavier, as he was a part of a much different tone with the series of films that began with X-Men: First Class.
We know that New Mutants will be its own standalone film. Ultimately, this may be a positive thing considering how that series of movies ended with Dark Phoenix. An original, standalone, freaky X-Men story has fans intrigued, and the fact it has taken so long to finally hit theaters has no doubt added to the intrigue. If New Mutants does indeed prove to be a winner both in terms of box office and the critics/audience reception, perhaps we can thank Deadpool and Logan for helping New Mutants come alive, and even almost being a part of the Apocalypse timeline.
