Is the X-Men family about to make room for Charlie Heaton of Stranger Things fame?
The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the up-and-comer has entered talks to join New Mutants, the upcoming spinoff from writer-director Josh Boone. Should a deal place, he’ll star opposite the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy (Split), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and, potentially, Rosario Dawson as Sam Guthrie (AKA Cannonball), a “teen who propels himself into the air (…like a cannonball) and is invulnerable while doing so.”
Elsewhere, we know from previous reports that Taylor-Joy has landed the role of Illyana Rasputin (AKA Magik), with Williams taking point as the feral Wolfsbane (real name: Rahne Sinclair). Finally, Rosario Dawson, who is no stranger to the realm of comic book fiction thanks to her ongoing involvement in the Marvelverse over on Netflix, is on board to portray Dr. Cecilia Reyes.
The addition of Charlie Heaton – pending final negotiations, of course – is another sure-fire sign that casting on New Mutants is beginning to heat up in anticipation of its planned production start in July, when Boone will be directing from a script penned by Knate Lee. That leaves enough time for the filmmaker and his team to finalize any casting-related deals, and one relatively major role that is still vacant at the time of writing is the mutant known as Mirage. Last we reported, Fox’s search had allegedly narrowed to two candidates: Blu Hunt and Days of Our Lives star True O’Brien.
Not unlike Deadpool and Logan before it, Fox and Josh Boone seemingly have a very specific vision in mind for New Mutants, and have envisioned their X-Men spinoff with an added horror-thriller slant.
New Mutants has been slated for April 13th, 2018 and is one of three major X-Men tentpoles due to arrive next year – the other two being David Leitch’s anti-hero sequel Deadpool 2 and Dark Pheonix, which will look to continue the core X-Men saga in the fallout of Bryan Singer’s Apocalypse. And though there have been reports to the contrary, both Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) are expected to reprise their respective roles in time for the blockbuster sequel. Or should that be soft reboot?