Although many believed - ourselves included - that 'The New Mutants' would never see the light of day, the movie is now slated in for an April release of this year.
Based on the comic-book series and taking a decidedly more horror-tinged approach, 'The New Mutants' was originally supposed to land in cinemas nearly two years ago, but was held back due to numerous issues revolving around new scenes, Fox's involvement, and the sale of Disney to Fox.
Initially, early reports suggested that 'The New Mutants' would wind up on Disney+ and look different from what was shown all that time ago, however the new trailer released earlier this week proved otherwise.
The lingering question around 'The New Mutants', however, is whether or not it's a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There were some rumblings that since Disney's purchase of Fox, the movie would undergo some reshoots to bring it more in line with their overall strategy. Whether that's true or not remains unclear, but the question of it being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is equally murky.
A now-deleted post from an official Disney website promoting the D23 Expo called 'The New Mutants' as "a seriously electrifying new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe." Disney, as it stands, haven't confirmed or denied this fact and, as mentioned, the post has now since been scrubbed from existence.
Here's a screenshot of it before that happened.
The likelihood is that 'The New Mutants' will not feature any reference to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe and will be as it was originally intended - a standalone movie, not connected to anything in the wider frame.
There's plenty of precedence in comic-book movies. Just look at 'Deadpool', 'Joker' et al. That said, it wouldn't be at all surprising if there was an after-credits scene, not unlike 'Iron Man', where it clicked itself into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All will be revealed (we hope) when 'The New Mutants' hits Irish cinemas on April 8th.
