Cast your mind back to March 2018, when the MCU’s Black Panther was still riding high at the box office, Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time had just landed with a thud, and theaters were littered with mediocre effects-driven movies like Tomb Raider, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Ready Player One. With just a few weeks to go until release, Fox’s The New Mutants was abruptly delayed by ten months, leaving fans upset that they’d have to wait almost an entire year to see the X-Men spinoff.
Fast forward to April 2020, when the MCU’s Captain Marvel 2 was given an official release date as the entirety of Phase Four was rescheduled, the box office has been reduced to zero, and theaters around the world remain closed, leaving mediocre films like Bloodshot and Sonic the Hedgehog to become available early for digital download. With just a few weeks to go until release, Disney and Marvel’s The New Mutants was abruptly delayed for the fourth time, with many fans now resigned to the fact that they may never get to see it on the big screen at all.
The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over while hoping for different results, and after The New Mutants was conspicuous by its absence from Disney’s heavily reshuffled release schedule, fans went online to vent their frustrations, although a lot of them didn’t seem surprised in the slightest. Though they are now demanding that the film be debuted on Disney Plus.
Dear Disney, just drop New Mutants on Disney+ or HULU already, damn. pic.twitter.com/fySh8Idgfj
— It Was All a Dream, I Used to Read Wizard Magazine (@UpToTASK) April 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/UberKryptonian/status/1246153680405102594
https://twitter.com/TheNumbJarl/status/1246149694239264769
If they can put Artemis Fowl on Disney+ then they can absolutely put The New Mutants on Disney+.
I don’t even care how I’m able to watch it anymore, I just want to watch it. pic.twitter.com/OlBeSwmQbT
— jacob. (@jtimsuggs) April 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/Me12982/status/1246505752568762370
@Disney @disneyplus PLEASE just release #NewMutants on Disney Plus!!!!! Let the fans have it
— Papí Sáncocho (@JEdwards1089) April 4, 2020
RELEASE NEW MUTANTS ON #DisneyPlus YOU COWARDS!!
— Lord Rev. Rudy Roods (@RoodsRoods) April 4, 2020
i haven’t been vocal about this issue but i really wish they would just release new mutants on disney plus like just let me enjoy my garbage in peace
— Tanner (@tannermowery) April 4, 2020
Dear @disneyplus @Disney please PLEASE stream @NewMutantsFilm The fans will pay for new content in times like these AND the fans have been waiting. Thank you. #disney #DisneyPlus #Disney #NewMutants @joeynutcrack @MercedFwooosh5 @Jayhov40 @robdatruth29
— Stephen J Amato (@SapitoDaVinci22) April 4, 2020
We’re now 33 months removed from when The New Mutants first started rolling cameras, and yet still no closer to actually seeing it. That brand new trailer may ultimately have turned out to be for nothing, too, with it looking increasingly likely that the mutant horror flick will end up being unceremoniously dumped on Disney Plus at some point in the future to little fanfare. And what a shame that is.