Throughout the years of cinema, films about superheroes have become increasingly popular due to the magnificent rise of the Marvel cinematic universe, especially if you compare Marvel to the DC extended universe and their unfortunate streak of failures when it comes to popularity as well as financial success. These trends beg the question: Can Marvel not fail? In short, New Mutants is living proof that even though Marvel is a titan in the movie industry, it is prone to fail.

     Now before the critic begins, it is important to note that Marvel’s New Mutants is not part of the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU) due to this property being apart of the Fox X-Men franchise; however, this is the last X-Men-type film that will be made by Fox due to the buyout by Disney. Therefore, this film isn’t cannon to the universe everyone so loves. However, mutants can and probably will show up some time in the future.

     Back to the evaluation of this mediocre movie: New Mutants is about a group of teenagers who are put into an asylum due to their mutant powers, where they realize that they are being used and tortured in response to trying to escape that wicked place.

     I do applaud the new type of superhero style this film takes. It is a horror type film, similar to the fantastic superhero horror film, Bright Burn. In this film, there weren’t any memorable moments to say the least, and it lacked its fair share of action. The character development was quite unique as each character had their own obstacles to overcome, and since there was great acting from the child actors who filled the main roles.

     If you are looking for a film that pits hero against villain, New Mutants is not that film. In whole, there are some villain-type characters; however, none of them fill the entire role as main villain. This contributes to the sense that action is quite lacking in the film, and that it is instead more suspenseful. Grace is given; however, since the film was delayed for about three years after its making in 2017, its graphics and styling are lacking in comparison with today’s standards, since the world of SFX and CGI is constantly expanding. In this regard, New Mutants doesn’t hold a flame to its competitors today, but by 2017 standards, it would have been phenomenal in that department.

     There will not ever be a sequel to this film now that Fox has been bought by Disney, which owns all of the X-Men property and movies. This is why the X-Men franchise that Fox has laid out has come to an end. Again, this does not mean X-Men properties will not be made; all this means is that the world of the X-Men we have loved for the past decade or so is finally over. In New Mutans, fans wanted a great and final goodbye to this beloved franchise; however, fans were not given a fireworks show but instead received a couple of firecrackers.

     Alas, as the year of 2020 caps off, this is another thing we hold close to our hearts. We look forward to the future of the X-Men and the actors who will return to their fabulous roles, as well as the new ones who will fill them.