Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld had a lot to get off his chest while speaking to Inverse recently. He blamed Marvel for why we haven’t seen Deadpool 3 yet and believes they have zero plans for the franchise at this point. And in that same interview, he also provided some information on The New Mutants, a movie made years ago that we also have yet to see.
In particular, Liefeld spoke about the film being shot while Deadpool 2 was in production and questioned why it still hasn’t seen the light of day. Especially since test screenings went well.
“That New Mutants movie was shot before Deadpool 2. Next week is two years since Deadpool 2 came out. The New Mutants was shot before, and I don’t know what the hell happened, dude. Now it’s on Amazon for pre-order? Just give it to us. Here’s the truth: my friends saw a test screening, and I couldn’t attend that day. I would have been able to sneak in. They loved it. Here’s what I know: all my friends who saw New Mutants in December of 2017 loved it. They loved it.”
A VOD listing for the movie did hit the internet last week, but Disney still plans to release it theatrically apparently. Liefeld believes that at this point though, the studio should just commit to the VOD option.
“They were describing it to me, they said a couple of special effects weren’t done, but they loved it. Then it got taken off the schedule, and then Disney happened, but I hear it’s great,” he added. “Here’s the deal: do you really want to go back and sit in the theater? I’m a giant movie nerd, and it’s gonna be a long time. I do not miss it… I’m not going to a theater where you can sneeze on me. I think we’ve all gotten a little agoraphobic.”
The New Mutants is seemingly a cursed production. Originally set for release in April of 2018, it was then moved to February 2019, then August of that year before finally settling on April 3rd, 2020. Then, COVID-19 happened and the X-Men movie was put on hold once again. It joins a long list of X-Men films with troubled productions, too, including X-Men 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. It’s basically a right of passage at this point. The only difference is, those movies eventually hit theaters.
A ringing endorsement from Liefeld’s “friends” I guess is a win, but I’m not going to hold my breath on this movie ever seeing a theatrical release. After all, if ever there was a perfect example and time to release a film to VOD, it’s The New Mutants. I mean, if Trolls World Tour is any indication of how well a movie can do without a theatrical run during COVID-19, then Disney should put this thing out immediately and turn any kind of profit on it that they can. And then in a couple of months, drop it on Disney Plus. Honestly, this feels like a no-brainer.
