'So Traumatic': A Doomed X-Men Spinoff With A 36% RT Score Was 'Unfulfilling' To Make

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John Dodge is an MTV Writer for CBR who specializes in movies, television, comics, and pop culture. He has a deep knowledge of franchises like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel, and DC Comics, along with a passion for indie and horror titles. An expert on obscure productions from the ’80s and ’90s, John is known for his encyclopedic recall of cult classics like Beetleborgs.

The New Mutants writer-director Josh Boone laments how "unfulfilling" his experience making the film turned out to be.

Speaking to The Direct, writer-director Josh Boone opened up about the myriad of factors that disrupted production on and the release of The New Mutants, ranging from being made in the midst of Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox and arriving in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's so hard because it was so traumatic. The studio was sold, and we hit a pandemic," Boone recalled. "The studio was sold during the shooting, and then the pandemic happened when they decided to release it."

"And it just was such a — I had a wonderful time. I love the cast so much, but making that... It took so many years, and it was so unfulfilling, ultimately," Boone continued. "We didn't really get to make the movie we wanted to make. We made half the movie we wanted to make. And the release was so compromised by the pandemic... I'd rather just never do it again, just to be honest."

Loosely based on the Marvel Comics series and team of the same name, The New Mutants arrived theaters on August 28, 2020 to a decidedly lackluster response from both critics and audiences alike. Despite both the film's superhero horror offerings and its star-studded ensemble cast including Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Maisie Williams, and Blu Hunt, The New Mutants failed to make much of an impact on viewers. As of the time of writing, The New Mutants holds a mere 36% "Fresh" rating via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as averaged across 137 critical reviews of the film. For comparison, The New Mutants holds a 55% approval rating via Rotten Tomatoes' audience-generated "Popcornmeter," as averaged across more than 2,500 verified user-submitted reviews.

What the Future of Mutantkind in the MCU Looks Like... for Now

Charles Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart, wearing a black suit in his wheelchair from X-Men movie

While the heroes of The New Mutants have effectively come and gone, their story was just one of many similar tales that have been told on the silver screen. In fact, fans of Marvel's mutants are currently looking forward to the return of numerous X-icons in 2026's Avengers: Doomsday. Not only will the film see numerous classic X-Men stars such as Kelsey Grammar, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Alan Cumming make their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper, Avengers: Doomsday will see more recent additions to the X-lineup such as Channing Tatum's Gambit return to the big screen, as well.

The New Mutants is currently available for streaming on Disney+.