"The New Mutants" Is Fox Studios Only Hope for the X-Men

I'm very excited for New Mutants. The trailer looks fantastic. I'm excited to see Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik because she was great in "Split." I hope they make her Russian like in the comics. Although I don't like the casting of Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, I'm interested in seeing how he'll portray the "gold old Southern boy." It seems like type-casting because of Heaton's work on "Stranger Things," also about teenagers and horror aspects, although Heaton is talented. Cannonball is a favorite character of mine. Maisie Williams is a talented young actress and I love Wolfsbane as a character, so I'm excited to see her portrayal. For the uninformed, Wolfsbane is a devout Catholic who believes her ability to shapeshift into a wolf is a sin. Her internal struggles makes for a fascinating character study on loving yourself.

Why the hell has this movie been pushed back to next August of 2019? The trailer premiered a year ago in 2017. That's just ridiculous. I hear it's because Fox studios want to shoot new scenes for the film to make it more scary, so hopefully this is time well spent. It feels like they're stalling because of the new deal with Disney and Fox. I hope New Mutants is as good or even better than my expectations because that trailer was fantastic. Using Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" was a stroke of genius. It's SO effective and it gives me chills just thinking about that song in the trailer.

Don't get me started on Dark Phoenix, Fox Studios’ next X-Men movie.

I can't even deal with Jennifer Lawrence and Mystique. She's just in it for a paycheck. After phoning it in in "X-Men: Apocalypse" I was hoping that Lawrence would turn down her return in Dark Phoenix, but "c’est la vie." At least she's wearing her blue makeup this time. I heard Lawrence doesn't like to sit down and in makeup because it takes so long. I don't blame her, but I don't like the way they're portraying Mystique in these movies, so I'm not interested. Mystique is not a hero. She's supposed to be a morally grey character, motivated by her love for her adopted daughter, Rogue. Casting her as the new leader of the X-Men is a betrayal of the character. I don't know what Fox is doing and I can't wait to see Disney-Marvel do the X-Men correctly because they FINALLY have the rights back! Woot!

The Dark Phoenix trailer didn't excite me. I just makes me nervous that Fox will butcher my beloved X-Men yet again. "Apocalypse" was a bad movie, but this looks like a gamble that's destined to fail. I didn't get much out of Sophie Turner's performance as Jean Grey in the last movie, so I don't feel hopeful about her here, especially because the film will center around her struggle with becoming the Dark Phoenix. The other young stars playing the X-Men are fair actors, but not compelling enough to enthuse me.

Also, why is Fox continuing the asinine decade-spanning concept? The past few X-Men movie have spanned three decades, starting with the 1960's in "X-Men: First Class." Apparently, Dark Phoenix is going to take place in the '90s. This concept doesn't work because the actors from "First Class" don't look like they've aged a day since. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, and Jennifer Lawrence still look like they're in their thirties when they're supposed to be playing characters in their 40's/50's. Ridiculous.

I'll see it, but I'm willing to bet money that it will bomb in theaters. Simon Kinberg has never directed a movie in his life and he was the pick for this dumpster fire? I'll see it, but my expectations are at ground zero.

Bring on the 'New Mutants' already!