I still can’t get over how badly 2020 fumbled a perfect X-Men movie setup

Marvel has effectively handled the introduction of many superhero teams, but 2020s The New Mutants Wasn’t one of them, with the movie and its reception only becoming more notable in some aspects over time. There were many X-Men Movies, and Under Fox’s stewardship, the series was set to include spinoffs and crossovers, including a “Civil War” film that included X-Men and Fantastic Four characters. Instead, the series focused on two timelines, a Wolverine trilogy, and a disappointing new team emerging from the comics.

I have loved so many X-Men characters over the years that have yet to be put on the big screen. Underrated heroes with unique powers like Armor would be so much fun to explore, as would a comically-accurate Kate Pryde with her dragon Lockeed. When the MCU timeline adds these characters to its series, I want to see an unusual X-Men team that does not include Wolverine but instead focuses on some other exciting comics. This is arguably the intent of the 2020s The New MutantsAlthough the audience reception for the release shows it left much to be desired.

The premise of The New Mutants was a perfect recipe for an X-Men movie

The Fox film released in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic

The New Mutants Could have been a perfect one X-Men Spinoff. The film saw an incredible cast of talented stars playing exciting new characters that had never been put on screen, including Wolfsbane and Cannonball. The heroes are trapped in a facility and have to work together to escape alive. With things of horror and a cast that included Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams and Stranger things‘ Charlie Heaton, the film was poised to be a big hit. Instead, it didn’t resonate with audiences or critics, and was a flop at the box office.

It’s hard for me to even express how perfect a choice Anya Taylor-Joy was to play Ilyana Rasputin, and I would argue that her performance as Magic makes the film worth watching. Some wanted her character to be brought back to the MCU. Still, this is clearly not enough to warrant positive reception from audiences. Despite the potential for great action moments, the film instead felt small. The character powers and visuals found in the movie didn’t live up to their potential, and for the most part, the film didn’t connect.

Why the New Mutants didn’t live up to its promises

The Disney-Fox merger caused production issues

The New Mutants was an exciting prospect that didn’t seem to live up to any expectations for the film, even from the studio itself. The film was pitched as a horror film in the X-Men universe, but little of the horror was effective, and there were plans to make changes to the film after production. The film was scheduled for reshoots, though details of the Disney-Fox merger complicated things at the time. The reshoots were not able to happen then, and by the time they could do them, the cast had aged too much.

Pushed from an originally planned 2018 release, the film didn’t debut until 2020 in its unfinished state, at a time when few people felt comfortable going to the movies. After years of production and delays, The studio wound up releasing a version of the film, according to reports from VultureThe studio itself was “Not satisfied“With. Due to the Fox-Disney merger, and the end of the Fox X-Men universe as a result, it seemed that remaking the film was not a priority, and they released it as it was.

How the MCU can make up for the mistakes of the New Mutants

A lot of what the New Mutants tried to do could work in the MCU

The MCU can make up for what didn’t work in New mutants By telling stories about characters beyond the main X-Men roster. As shown in many X-Men comics over the years, X-Men Stories don’t have to center around the central team at all times. While I would love to see a comic-accurate Cyclops fighting alongside Marvel Girl and Angel in their classic uniforms, I also want to see the other mutants from comic book history featured in exciting new stories.

Characters like Magik and Wolfsbane need to be a more important part of X-Men Narrative in the MCU. Lesser-known characters like Sunspot appeared in the form of X-Men ’97Showing some progress, and while it was an excellent move, the whole team deserves better. I want to see a focus on highlighting the lesser known roster of charactersIncluding figures like Mirage, in the upcoming MCU films. This would be a fresh way to reimagine the list and create a new, satisfying lineup for the upcoming films.

The New Mutants Was not a success for Fox. Unfortunately, this may cause Disney to avoid using some of the film’s wonderful characters in theirs X-Men Reboot. I hope this is not the case. While I admit New mutants Has many faults, it also has many unrealized potentials. Focusing on the excellent characters that the film decided to use would be the perfect way to differentiate them X-Men Reboot. I sincerely hope that the disappointment of The New Mutants Doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of these incredible characters.