Rumours have been circling for quite some time now that 20th Century Fox has serious confidence issues with their next two Marvel properties, with both X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants reportedly receiving extremely poor internal reactions, leading to reshoots and release date delays on both projects. And reports are now circulating that the situation for both projects might be so dire that Fox may actually pull the plug on the two movies.
According to someone claiming to be a Fox employee on SuperheroHype forums (so be sure to have your pinch of salt at the ready), it has been claimed that there are more than just confidence issues with The New Mutants movie in particular, with Josh Boone said to be director in name only, and his creative direction largely differing from what the studio desires. Furthermore, there is talk of the cast also having severe issues with one another, especially with Magik actress Anya Taylor-Joy and another unnamed cast member.
Fox is reportedly unsure as to how fix the film after terrible test screenings. Trying to add more horror elements, more heart, more humour and more comic accurate details, it appears there are too many cooks in the kitchen for this superhero flick. The next chapter of the main X-Men series isn’t faring much better, with some reports stating that Dark Phoenix feels almost like a carbon copy of the much maligned X-Men: The Last Stand.
SEE ALSO: SPOILERS: X-Men: Dark Phoenix plot details surface following test screening
If the report is to be believed, the mutant properties are very much in jeopardy and could be scrapped completely ahead of the impending Disney merger. The House of Mouse is reportedly also displeased with both movies, and the thinking is that it may be better to pull the plug on the films rather than spending millions of dollars in an effort to salvage them.
With Fox opting against promoting The New Mutants and Dark Phoenix at Comic-Con, it seems pretty clear that there are big issues with the two films. Whether we’ll see anything as drastic as both being shelved remains to be seen, and as it stands the two films remain part of Fox’s release schedule, dated for August 2nd 2019 and February 14th 2019 respectively. Still, let us know your thoughts on these rumours in the comments below…
Originally published July 26, 2018. Updated November 21, 2019.
