Despite being a 20th Century Fox release, the upcoming X-Men spinoff film The New Mutants is evidently going to hit theaters with Marvel Studios’ blessing — according to legendary comic book artist Bill Sienkiewicz.

During a recent appearance on Kevin Smith’s Fatman Beyond podcast, Sienkiewicz revealed he has already seen the upcoming trailer teased by New Mutants director Josh Boone. “Two days ago, I heard from Josh Boone, the director, and he sent me a new trailer,” Sienkiewicz said. “And they’ve been working, he’s been working on it and everything, and it is phenomenal. I got chills.”

 

The artist continued, “It looks like, because of the whole Disney-Fox — I don’t know if you want to call it merger, takeover, whatever… the Borg — it’s got the blessings of Marvel. And it feels more Marvel in terms of what they’re doing, but also the horror elements of the film are in place. It’s really, absolutely stellar, just what I’ve seen.”

Sienkiewicz is well known for his tenure providing the art for Marvel Comics’ original New Mutants series. He and writer Chris Claremont crafted the “Demon Bear Saga,” which Boone’s upcoming film appears to take its cues from.

 

The New Mutants was originally slated to be released on April 13, 2018. The film was later delayed to Feb. 22, 2019, before being pushed back once again to Aug. 2, 2019. Following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the future of the film was left up in the air, with Marvel Studios planning to make its own films based around X-Men properties. Disney ultimately decided the film would see the light of day, with a new release date being set for April 3, 2020.

While technically part of Fox’s X-Men franchise, a recent cut of The New Mutants reportedly distances itself from its predecessors. Some believe this decision was made with the intent to make the characters adaptable to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe — though such rumors remain unsubstantiated at this time. Nevertheless, the latest version of the film has apparently been playing well with test audiences. What’s more, Sienkiewicz’ comments seem to suggest — to some extent — the power that be are at least embracing the long-awaited film.

 

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