The superhero genre has been going strong for years, but before shared universes like the MCU (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription), there was the X-Men movies. That franchise due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, but two more movies were released after that deal: Dark Phoenix and the spinoff The New Mutants. The latter was directed by Josh Boone, who recently spoke about why trying to get his movie filmed and released was "traumatic." Let's break it down.
Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order will recall how the X-Men franchise helped to shape the genre as we know it today. The New Mutants had a lot going for it, thanks to its stellar cast of young talent. But in a conversation with The Direct, Boone shared why making the movie was so difficult. In his words:
It’s so hard because it was so traumatic. The studio was sold, and we hit a pandemic… The studio was sold during the shooting, and then the pandemic happened when they decided to release it. And it just was such a — I had a wonderful time. I love the cast so much, but making that… It took so many years, and it was so unfulfilling, ultimately.
He's not wrong. The New Mutants was delayed a number of times prior to its release, including some pandemic-related ones. And without the support of 20th Century Fox after the deal with Disney, it ultimately became an "unfulfilling" experience for the Fault in our Stars director. And really, can you blame him?
Boone specifically mentions loving the cast of The New Mutants, which included Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, and Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton. Their casting was exciting, but ultimately they only played their mutant roles for one film.
Later in the same interview, Boone went on to explain how his vision for the X-Men spinoff was ultimately never seen. As he put it:
We didn’t really get to make the movie we wanted to make. We made half the movie we wanted to make. And the release was so compromised by the pandemic… I’d rather just never do it again, just to be honest.
This would make sense for those who followed this project's journey at the time. It was teased that The New Mutants would be super horror-infused. But while there were a ew jump scares and creepy moments during its runtime, it wasn't nearly as scary as it sounds like Boone wanted it to be. So add that to his list of grievances.
It's a bummer that Josh Boone feels so negatively about The New Mutants, but his story shows how much can change from a movie's development to its eventual release. While it sounds like he would not do it all again, there were some epic moments in the movie's runtime. There's just no way he could have predicted Fox being sold as well as a global pandemic that closed theaters.
The New Mutants is streaming on Disney+ along with the rest of the X-Men movies. Fans of that property should look forward to Avengers: Doomsday, which will be released December 18th of next year as part of the 2026 movie release list. After all, a number of OG X-Men actors are set to appear.
