After a series of delays and rumors about the film being scrapped altogether, The New Mutants is now set to be released. We’ve speculated over the movie on previous occasions, but the latest trailer has brought forward further context.
For the moment, it is considered as the final outing for the X-Men film series before it is integrated within the MCU, although the trailer has brought us a lot to think about this point and several others. In case you were perplexed by the rather ambiguous trailer, or if you just want to know about the film, here are 10 things we learned from the The New Mutants’ trailer.
It Is Predominantly Set In The Facility
With there being about a two-year delay from the original release in which supposedly a bunch of re-shoots had taken place, some believed the premise of the facility (where the mutants are held) might not be the only backdrop. However, the trailer quashed this assumption as this location is the only one shown.
In fact, the trailer established that the mutants are looking to escape the facility in question, meaning we’re going to be seeing pretty much every little secret behind this location in the film. Unlike Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, this isn’t a safe place for people with powers.
It’s Not A Straight-Up Horror Film
The most intriguing aspect about The New Mutants has been its genre of a horror film, as this is a territory only a few superhero movies like Split have taken. However, we also derived from the trailer that the characters aren’t going to be shown as completely helpless.
By the end, it can be seen that the mutants have decided to band together and escape the facility, and we were treated to glimpses of these mutants powering up, ready for a fight. So while there will be scares for the most part, we can expect there to be X-Men-style action taking place too.
Magik’s Background
Those who have seen the X-Men movies before Deadpool will remember the Colossus that was featured in those films. While he’d retained his powers, he wasn’t shown as being Russian, which brought uncertainty over how Magik would be portrayed in The New Mutants.
In case you don’t know, Magik is the sister of Colossus, and hearing her accent in the trailer confirms she’s meant to be Russian in the film. Not only does this point toward a connection of The New Mutants to the X-Men series, it also confirms that we’ll be exploring Magik’s background from her native country.
Mutants Are Rare
There’s still confusion over what timeline we’re seeing in the X-Men film series. Days of Future Past showed no big problems with mutants while Logan depicted them as being hunted. While it’s not completely clear where The New Mutants is set — or if it’s even supposed to be part of this chronology anymore — what is certain is that the mutants are ostracized.
And not only are they kept far away from humans, the mutants seem to be running low in numbers as was evidenced during the trailer when Dani was asked if she knew what a mutant is. It seems the film is going the route Logan took by showing mutants to be on the brink of extinction.
Mutation Is Treated As A Disease
The progress made in the X-Men series seems to have gone away by The New Mutants as the perception behind mutants has reverted to what it was during the original trilogy. Rather than accept that they have a mutated gene, their powers are being treated as diseases.
During the group therapy session, the mutants were asked about their “first time,” an event that is being treated as the thing that kickstarted their mutation. It also appears that the characters are being deliberately led to believe that their mutations are diseases rather than powers.
Magik Is The Wild Card
While every other mutant has been shown terrified out of their wits over where they’ve found themselves to be, Magik has stood out as the exception. When asked individually by Cecilia Reyes to share their experiences, only Magik was boastful.
Openly admitting with pride that she killed 18 men — that too one by one — Magik wasn’t shown buying into the ploy that they were there to be helped. She was also the one to inform Dani that they were in a cage with the pretense of being in a hospital. By the end of the trailer, Magik was seen willing to let her powers loose and fight.
There Are Plans For The Mutants’ Powers
The solution for the mutation of the characters is the reason why they’re at the facility, and we saw a shot of Dani being strapped to a table wearing an oxygen mask with the intention to “help her get better.” However, it’s also clear that a simple cure isn’t the true intention.
Constant surveillance was shown for the mutants, with Cecilia Reyes seen monitoring everything with the help of multiple cameras. It also appears as if the mutants’ powers are being attempted to be extracted as the experiments conducted on them are to find out their exact powers.
Romance Between Dani And Wolfsbane
Tucked between the horror presented in the trailer was also an indication of a romance between two of the characters. The first glimpse of this is seen when Dani is confiding in Wolfsbane that the facility has sinister plans for them, with barely any distance between one another.
The more outright indicator is near the end when Wolfsbane is cradling a seemingly unconscious Dani in her arms. This will be the first LGBT romance in the X-Men film series if it is indeed delved into within the movie.
Personal Fear Is The Theme Of The Movie
What could scare mutants with powers, you ask? That would be the mutants themselves, if the trailer is any indication. Near the end of the clip, eerie creatures and colors begin to arrive, and the narration confirms that these are projections of the characters’ fears.
While Magik had a defiant attitude beforehand, even she’s shown to be terrified by the end of the trailer as the voiceover elaborates that the facility intends to take the mutants’ greatest fears, with death being the eventual result — unless they escape.
The Demon Bear Is The Main Antagonist
While the characters discuss their attempt to escape, they aren’t seen fighting off against any humans at the end of the trailer. Instead, a mysterious dark entity stalks them. It’s first seen haunting Wolfsbane as part of her fears before appearing in full.
This being is known as the Demon Bear, an entity which appeared in the comics based on these mutants. It empowers itself from the fears of others, which enables it to pull off feats like shapeshifting and teleportation. In the trailer, the Demon Bear’s monstrous and humanoid forms are seen, with Magik even engaging it in the closing seconds. Since fear is the central theme of the film, it makes sense that the Demon Bear will be the main antagonist.
