THE NEW MUTANTS

Horror. Murder. No spandex. The New Mutants shakes up the superhero template

The first X-men horror film. If you don’t count X-men: Apocalypse, that is. Still keeps us awake at night, that one.

THE PAST COUPLE of years have seen some pretty sizeable tonal shifts in the X-men cinematic universe — think the irreverence of Deadpool and the grittiness of Logan. But the series’ next instalment, The New Mutants, looks set to rewrite the X-rulebook entirely.

“[Fox] wanted something very far from a typical X-men movie,” says director Josh Boone. “But I can’t believe what they let us do. We pitched it as The Shining meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s very... out there.” Despite the Marvel logo, The New Mutants is being billed as an all-out horror film, more interested in surreal terror than spandex.

“There are no costumes,” says Boone. “That alone makes it different.” But he posits, the origins of these kids — misfits from the outskirts of the X-universe — haven’t been explored like this before. “They can’t be with the other kids at the X-mansion. They’re too fucked up.”

Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters does indeed seem a far cry from the The New Mutants’ creepy institution. “They’ve all killed people, whether intentionally or unintentionally,” says Boone, with a grin.

This motley crew of superbeings includes The Witch’s Anya Taylor-joy and Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton. The plot is under wraps, but is based loosely on Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz’s ’80s ‘Demon Bear’ storyline.

“This movie is probably the hardest PG-13 ever made,” Boone laughs. “I mean, we’ve pushed it. The horror is pretty dark, but there’s also an emotional core, too. If I can scare you and make you cry: that’s the goal.” Who needs capes and masks when you’ve got tears and fears?