The New Mutants has been delayed from its release date time and time again, to the dismay of fans, who had been looking forward to director Josh Boone's adaptation of Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz's classic New Mutants comic series run as a horror-action trilogy. While the release of the film is uncertain, two stunning new stills from The New Mutants has been shared by Cinefax Magazine.
The first photo showcases an exciting battle between what appears to be the character of the mutant Illyana aka Magik, played by Anya Taylor-Joy and the terrifying Demon Bear. Boone, who is a self-confessed comics fan, was clearly inspired by Bill Sienkiewicz's art from the comics when designing the scene. The fight seems to be taking place in another realm, with rocky outcroppings sticking out against a reddened sky, while a lake of blue fire rises from the ground. This is probably meant to be Limbo, the Hell Dimension.
The scene is somewhat reminiscent of the battle between Doctor Strange and Dormammu near the end of his first solo film. As in that movie, the battle between Illyana and The Demon Bear is magical in nature, with the young hero wielding the Soulsword, which houses a shard of her soul within it. There is a third participant in the battle. Lockheed, Illayan's pet dragon, who is attempting to help his mistress by attacking the Bear's eyes.
In the comics, Illyana is the sister of the X-Men member Colossus. She has the ability to teleport using the Hell dimension as a gateway to any location on Earth. She is also an accomplished sorceress, although that part of her abilities might not be showcased fully in the film. The Demon Bear is an entity that exists in a separate dimension known as the Badlands, but can access our world by taking over the consciousness of the mutant Mirage. It was to protect Mirage in the comics that Magik took on The Demon Bear with the help of her Soulsword.
The second image from The New Mutants shows of the nightmare inducing villains The Smiley Men, which are directly tied to Illyana's past. Not much more is being revealed about these terrifying creatures at this time, but they are sure to creep out horror fans of all ages.
The story of The New Mutants is quite straightforward. Five young mutants are held in a secret facility and they must band together in order to escape. What complicates matters is the psychologically fragile state of the young characters, and the tenuous control they have over their powers. It is the last official storyline that exists within the larger X-Men universe of movies, now that the characters have been bought by Disney and set to be made a part of the MCU.
The upcoming movie is set to take a much darker look at the world of mutants. The trailers released so far tease plenty of classic horror movie tropes, including jump scares, hands and faces coming out of the walls, masked killers racing towards their victims, and disembodied hands rising up to grab you from behind. There is also major talent attached to the feature, with Maise Williams (Game of Thrones) and Ayna Taylor-Joy (Split) in the lead roles.
