The New Mutants director Josh Boone has revealed that James McAvoy’s Professor X was almost in the film.
After considerable delays, rumors of reshoots, and a studio reshuffling, Josh Boone’s The New Mutants arrives in theaters this April, two years after its original release date. Now that Disney is the shepherd of The New Mutants, they have given Josh Boone complete reign in his cut of the film, ostensibly making the horror film the final film in the X-Men Fox franchise. On the eve of the film’s release, ScreenRant has revealed what they learned on the film’s set visit, which took place in 2017. Speaking with The New Mutants director, they were able to discover that the film was originally set in the 1980’s X-Men Apocalypse timeline, with James McAvoy’s Professor X set to appear.
As the film continued to be developed, it was decided that it would be best if James McAvoy’s Professor X didn’t appear in the film. The reason for James McAvoy’s Professor X departing was most likely to differentiate The New Mutants’ horror roots from the team-based super heroics seen in James McAvoy’s X-Men films. James McAvoy’s X-Men films very rarely explored the brutality and darkness of suppressing mutants, so it makes sense that his Professor X wouldn’t appear in The New Mutants. In fact, The New Mutants director Josh Boone explained how radically different his film is when compared to Hugh Jackman’s Logan, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, and James McAvoy’s 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?”
From a logistical perspective, it’s also hopeful to know that James McAvoy’s Professor X won’t be appearing in the film, as the baggage of the character would have really mired the new and exciting take The New Mutants was going for. James McAvoy’s Professor X films certainly began strong with the likes of X-Men: First Class but they slowly became the laughing stock of the superhero genre with the recently released Dark Phoenix. Now that Fox’s X-Men films are coming to an end, perhaphs it’s best that James McAvoy’s Professor X isn’t there to witness the end.
What are your thoughts on James McAvoy’s Professor X almost appearing in The New Mutants? Comment below and let us know!
Here is the official synopsis for The New Mutants:
20th Century Fox in association with Marvel Entertainment presents “The New Mutants,” an original horror thriller set in an isolated hospital where a group of young mutants is being held for psychiatric monitoring. When strange occurrences begin to take place, both their new mutant abilities and their friendships will be tested as they battle to try and make it out alive.
Directed by Josh Boone from a script he co-wrote with Knate Lee, The New Mutants stars Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga.
The New Mutants will be released in theaters on April 3, 2020.
Source: Screenrant
