We’ve had a bleak X-Men Western (Logan) and a meta, fourth-wall-breaking X-Men film (Deadpool) in the last two years, so why not an X-Men horror movie?
The first trailer for X-Men: The New Mutants—which of course dropped on Friday the 13th—shows a movie that has all the ingredients for a proper horror flick. It’s set in a creepy asylum, the corridors are dimly lit, there’s some guy wearing a mask, and even something as mundane as laundry isn’t safe from a jump scare.
There’s also a great cast of young actors behind the movie, which is set to hit theaters on Friday the 13th of April 2018: Anya Taylor-Joy, who's already made a name for herself in the horror genre (The Witch, Split); Charlie Heaton, a.k.a. Jonathan from Stranger Things; and Maisie Williams plays the mutant Wolfsbane—between this and Game of Thrones, she’s really cornering the wolf-adjacent roles in Hollywood.
We’re still light on details, but it seems like the movie’s asylum is meant to keep the rest of the world safe from the young mutants’ seemingly uncontrollable powers. However, considering the tombstones marked with patient numbers in the asylum’s cemetery, it’s a safe bet that the doctors aren’t looking out for the kids’ best interests.
Thanks to It, horror is hot right now. And with Deadpool, 20th Century Fox has already shown that putting superhero stories in other genres has its own financial rewards; the movie seems well set up for success. The question is: Will it be scary?
