If I’m being honest, I don’t know what to believe when it comes to Fox’s X-Men movies, Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants. We may see a vote as soon as tomorrow sealing the Fox/Disney deal, which would throw both movies into the woodchipper, most likely. On the other hand, both films are essentially done and a bunch of money has been poured into them, including reshoots. Seems like a shame to let that go to waste. More rumors have emerged now that paint quite the dire picture, claiming both movies are scrapped and even if they did come out they’d be pretty awful.
So this bunch of rumors comes from SuperheroHype forums and a supposedly reliable poster who claims to be a Fox employee. I would say take this with a heavier dose of salt than usual, but I’d be lying if I said some of it doesn’t ring true.
New Mutants has been a problem child from the beginning. Fans didn’t respond well to director Josh Boone’s horror-centric vision seen in the first trailer, and apparently Fox wasn’t down with it, either. The original plan was to do a more traditional superhero movie until Boone came in and flipped it into a superhero horror. But with the reshoots Boone was essentially removed from the equation; the darker aspects were removed and even the Demon Bear, originally set to be the film’s villain, was signficantly changed. Part of the move away from Boone was adding X-23 to the cast, while a storyline was created for Colossus in which he looks for his sister, Illyana aka Magik, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Speaking of which, Taylor-Joy is said to have had real problems with another member of the cast.
Fox execs weren’t happy with Boone’s work, and when Disney started to exert their influence they weren’t happy, either. Production on New Mutants and Dark Phoenix was halted as a result.
The source calls Dark Phoenix the worse movie of the two, almost Fantastic Four-level bad with the cast largely phoning in their performances. That part definitely rings true to me, as nobody asked about it has sounded all that interested. If Disney decides to wipe the X-Men slate clean they may still release both films as part of a streaming deal or VOD, but theatrical is out of the question.
A few other tidbits: the Gambit movie with Channing Tatum? Not happening. I know, you’re shocked.
Olivia Munn’s Psylocke wasn’t in Dark Phoenix, which is weird but not surprising.
Marvel Studios may have plans in the works or Silver Surfer and Galactus already. Kevin Feige has had his eye on them for a long time, so don’t be shocked if they are among the first characters he makes a place for in the MCU. They might show up before the Fantastic Four, actually.
X-Force could be retitled Deadpool 3: X-Force, which would be a smart move. Why mess with what isn’t broke? Leave the Deadpool corner alone as much as possible. New Mutants characters may appear, except for Taylor-Joy because of the issues she had with another actor.
