With Josh Boone and his team targeting a production start early next month in Boston, New Mutants is fast beginning to coalesce over at 20th Century Fox.
Just yesterday, for example, news emerged that Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) had opened talks with the studio to play Sam Guthrie (AKA Cannonball), a “teen who propels himself into the air like a cannonball and is invulnerable while doing so.” Negotiations are still ongoing, but that hasn’t curbed Fox’s desire to wrap up its casting process sooner rather than later.
Case in point: Henry Zaga, star of Netflix sensation 13 Reasons Why, has agreed terms to play the part of Roberto da Costa (AKA Sunspot), a Brazilian mutant with the ability to manipulate solar energy. The addition of Zaga falls in line with Fox’s ongoing effort to assemble an ethnically diverse roster of talent for New Mutants, and over the past few weeks we’ve learned that the company has tapped Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) and Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) to play Illyana Rasputin/Magik and Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, respectively. When pulled together, it makes for an exciting collection of talent, and that’s before we even factor in MCU stalwart Rosario Dawson into the equation. The actress landed the part of Dr. Cecilia Reyes late last month, who is said to be a healer/mentor-like figure to the New Mutants. Go figure.
There is, however, one major role left to be filled on Josh Boone’s X-Men spinoff, and that’s Danni Moonstar. Last we reported, both Blu Hunt and Days of Our Lives star True O’Brien had been linked with the coveted role of Mirage, but at least at the time of writing, that part still remains vacant.
With a July start date on the cards, expect New Mutants to unveil its full cast before the end of the month. And once those cameras begin rolling, all eyes will begin to look toward the film’s release on April 13th, 2018. Next year is shaping up to be a defining one for 20th Century Fox’s superhero arm, what with Deadpool 2 and X-Men: Dark Pheonix also earmarked for 2018. But of the three, which are you most looking forward to?
