by Joshua H. Stulman

For those of us still in Coronavirus Quarantine, you might be surprised to hear that the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is finally here!

New Mutants is set to debut in theaters on August 26th. The film has been in development hell for the past 4 years and has survived numerous re-shoots and production company changes. Now under Disney ownership, the final installment in Fox’s long running X-Men related series comes to a close.

But this won’t be your typical Super-Hero movie. The film is based on the famous New Mutants story “The Demon Bear.” Every indication about the film suggests that this is going to be a dark horror film (PG-13) as befits Bill Sienkiewicz‘s artwork on the original series. While the movie is loosely linked to Fox’s cinematic X-Men universe, don’t expect any cameo’s by previous X-Men characters or even the tie-in Legion TV series from Hulu…at least let’s say it’s not likely!

Instead what’s to be expected is a new origin story for the team that is mixed with elements from the “Demon Bear” comic story. Much like Marvel’s movie method, both origin story and Demon Bear parts are going to be completely re-imagined for the film. This won’t be the movie adaption that older comic fans yearn for…but with an open mind it still may be a good flick.

New Mutants debuted in Marvel Graphic Novel # 4 in 1981. At the time, DC’s hottest book was the Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Marvel’s teenage team of heroes had always been the X-Men, but by the early 80’s, the X-Men had grown up. The original team had moved on with their life, even the “New” X-Men like Wolverine and Storm were far from teenagers.

Chris Claremont recognized the oversight by Marvel and co-created with John Byrne, a new teenager X-Men Kitty Pryde. But after Byrne’s departure and a shift in X-Men adventures featuring inter-galactic space travel, there needed to be a new team to relate the X-Men stories to its teen-age audience.

Thus, The New Mutants debuted by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod. First as a one-shot in Marvel’s Graphic Novel series and immediately following as a new ongoing series in Jim Shooter’s expansion of the Marvel Universe. The tales returned the focus to teenage problems, anxieties and relationships while growing up in a harsh world that seemingly persecuted mutants.

A stylistic shift in artwork from Bob McLeod’s traditional Marvel “House” style to Bill Sienkiewicz‘s radical painterly artstyle only increased interest in the book for years. New characters were introduced like Warlock and Professor X’s telepathic son, Legion (Yes, THAT Legion from Hulu’s TV Series)! In fact the popular X-Men, Psylocke, made her American debut in New Mutants Annual # 2.

As New Mutants neared it centennial issue, a new creative team was assigned to re-ignite interest in the book. Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld shook up the book by introducing an anti-hero as the group’s leader, Cable! Soon after Fabian Nicieza was brought on to write the series and in only a short run, one of Marvel’s most successful characters was born, Deadpool.

As issue #100 rolled around, it became clear that a re-branding of the series was needed to continue in its new direction. After the success of Jim Lee‘s X-Men and Todd McFarlane‘s Spider-Man series, X-Force was finally born and catapulted Rob Liefeld to Comic Book Stardom!

New Mutants is set to debut in Movie Theaters on Aug. 26th and will be one of the first movies to be opened during the Coronavirus Pandemic. With many movie theaters still shuttered domestically (including in New York City), it will be a good test to see if the public is willing or able to return to the Cinema. Whatever the turn out, it surely will spark debate as Disney continues to keep the MCU Black Widow movie on schedule for November 6!

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop