Fox’s The New Mutants trailer appears to confirm longstanding rumors about the Marvel movie featuring a queer romance between Wolfsbane and Mirage. At long last, the final Marvel film Fox completed before being bought by Disney is (maybe) about to reach theaters. A spinoff of the studio’s X-Men franchise, The New Mutants revolves around five young mutants who’re still figuring out how to control their powers, only to find themselves trapped in a secret facility and fighting to escape. Marketing for the movie began all the way back in October 2017, before it was pushed back (twice) from its original April 2018 release date for reshoots that, in the end, never happened and, post-Disney deal, shifted once more to April 2020.
Adapting the Marvel comics, director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) co-wrote The New Mutants with Knate Lee (Kidnap), and announced the imminent arrival of a new trailer last month. The official The New Mutants trailer is now online and features much in the way of previously-unseen footage from the dark, horror-flavored superhero film. It also hints heavily at a LGBT romance that’s been rumored, but unconfirmed, for much of the last year.
Among other things, The New Mutants trailer shows Rahne Sinclair aka. Wolfsbane (Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams) and Danielle Moonstar aka. Mirage (Another Life costar Blu Hunt) both alone together and, in a different moment, being fairly intimate with one another. It was rumored last March the two characters would be in a romantic relationship in the film, and the trailer strongly suggests that is, in fact, the case. Adding more fuel to the fire, a separate report claiming Wolfsbane and Mirage have a romance in The New Mutants only dropped a couple days into 2020.
Boone recently confirmed Disney and Fox are releasing his original cut of The New Mutants in theaters - so, assuming the original rumor about Wolfsbane and Mirage is accurate, their romance should also be included in the version of the film hitting theaters. From a character standpoint, it makes sense the pair would fall in love with one another. The two had similar experiences growing up in the comics; Rahne was ostracized by her strictly religious Scottish family because of her inability to control her powers (which allow her to turn in a wolf), and Danielle was equally marginalized by her Native American community after her abilities (which allow her to create illusions based on people’s worst fears) manifested during puberty, before she could learn how to avoid using them on accident. As such, the pair should be quick to form a connection with one another in The New Mutants movie, even before they realize they have shared feelings of attraction.
Furthermore, a Wolfsbane and Mirage romance would allow The New Mutants to become the first Marvel movie to include an LGBT relationship between two superheroes in non-supporting roles (Deadpool 2 previously had Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio), marking a long overdue step forward in inclusiveness for the larger Marvel film brand. It wouldn’t be the only 2020 Marvel movie to feature a queer romance either, as Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has confirmed November’s Eternals will introduce the first gay superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rumor has it The New Mutants could be folded into the MCU down the line (if Feige so chooses), which means it would technically be the first film in the franchise to feature not one, but two queer protagonists. In either case, a Wolfsbane-Mirage romance would come as a welcome development.
- New Mutants Release Date: 2020-08-28
