Author - Lily Perkel

It may seem far off, but we’ve been hearing about The New Mutants for a long time and we’ll be meeting the new mutants before you know it, and they’re definitely bringing some surprises with them. While the market is thoroughly saturated with mutants at the moment, Fox even pushed back the release of The New Mutants twice so that it wouldn’t overlap with their other mutant centred films. The new mutants are definitely going to bring some new things to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. You know those Gen Z’ers are known for shaking things up. So here, in no particular order, are just a few of the things I’m looking forward to in 2019: 6. New Heroes. While I love Jean-Grey, Wolverine, and Mystique, they’ve definitely had their time in the cinematic sun, and I’m excited for the Fox to introduce us to a few lesser known mutants. While these mutants have existed inside of paper comics for many years now, introducing them to the larger populace is exciting and will definitely get us out of the time travel trap that we seem to have gotten stuck in. The diversity of the new characters (Russian, Scottish, Brazilian, Native American) is particularly appealing to me, Marvel is slowly starting to turn away from the perfect, white, boy-next-door hero that Cyclops embodied for so many years. Thank goodness. 5. New Villains. The big bad was originally advertised as The Demon Bear, a psychic creature created by Dani Moonstar, Mirage. However, that aspect has since been dropped and it looks like Cecilia Reyes, the doctor (and possibly the only adult in the hospital?) who is treating the new mutants is the new evil plaguing the heroes. However, it is unclear how much is her malice and how much is simply psychological torment created by the Mutants themselves growing into and experimenting with their powers. Inner demons have long been a theme of the mutant universe while the Gifted Youngsters grapple with their changing bodies and I’m sure we’ll get plenty of that from within the hospital. 4. A Horror Aspect. If you’ve watched the trailer you know this X-Men movie is taking a slightly different direction from previous films. It looks like it’s going to be your classic psychological thriller, but whereas in most of those you know it’s all hallucinations, the world of mutants will certainly blur the lines between the real and imagined worlds. In fact, according to Collider, Fox has had to do numerous reshoots to make the movie scarier in the hopes that it will stand out from their other mutant movies. There will be plenty of teenagers flocking to The New Mutants not even realising it’s an X-Men movie. 3. No Lesson at the End. Year after year we’ve seen Magneto and Professor X knock heads about the future of the mutant race. Can we live with humans? Should we separate ourselves? Will we destroy each other eventually? While their messages about tolerance and teamwork are extremely important, I for one am excited for a simple movie that doesn’t leave me questioning my morals. While this villain is bound to make me think (I’m sure there will be some twist) I won’t have to examine any larger picture and I won’t leave the theatre feeling like I just received an ethics lesson. 2. A New Love Story. Okay, so romance may not play a large role (if any) within the hospital of horrors that our heroes are confined in, but once that is resolved there is nothing that prevents Marvel from expanding on the characters and their relationships. In fact, given their age and shared trauma, I think it’s even more likely that things end up escalating in future storylines. We might finally be able to break free of the Jean-Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine love triangle that has been central in so many mutant movies. Maybe Fox will even continue their trend of pushing boundaries and add some sort of LGBT romance into the mix. 1. A Youthful Aspect. I think we were supposed to get a little of this in X-Men: First Class but let’s face it, that was seven years ago and while James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence were young, they didn’t exactly speak to the teen audience. I think there will be plenty of teenagers enticed by the youthful cast they recognise from their favourite shows (Game of Thrones and Stranger Things). This is a chance to pull in a generation who didn’t necessarily identify with previous X-Men movies. The parallel between puberty and mutant power development has always been obvious and Fox seems to finally have decided to capitalise on it. What are you excited to see from The New Mutants? Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!