X-Men: Nat Wolff Reportedly Eyed For Cannonball In New Mutants

The New Mutants film has been in development at 20th Century Fox for a few years now, but it looks like its development has suddenly picked up speed. The movie is now reportedly set for a Spring 2018 release, just a few months after Deadpool 2 is due in theaters. The film, being produced by longtime X-Men Movies producer Simon Kinberg had an animatic released by ComingSoon.net, along with a slew of news.

In addition to the animatic that showed Demon Bear as a villain in the film and the purple alien dragon Lockheed as a companion to Magik, ComingSoon offered up some casting news.

Nat Wolff, known for his work in teenage relationship films like Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars, and who is the main star of the 2017 live-action anime adaptation Death Note, is reportedly the top targeted actor for the role of Sam Guthrie, Cannonball.

Guthrie was one of the original founding members of the New Mutants, the younger generation of the X-Men. He comes from a large family, and a couple of his siblings wound up having an active mutant gene, as well, but that was further down the road. Guthrie's chosen mutant name, Cannonball, was reflective of his ability to fly with a jet of fire at high speeds. He is invulnerable when in flight, as well, but if he stops, he's as vulnerable as the rest of us. There's more to the character (and his family) that was revealed throughout the decades, but it's unlikely to make it into the film. He currently serves as a member of one of the off-shoot Avengers teams in the pages of Marvel Comics.

Director Josh Boone is helming New Mutants, lending credence to the report of Nat Wolff's leadership in the running for the team leader - Boone directed The Fault in Our Stars.

The only official news on New Mutants directly from Fox so far is that Boone is directing, and he's writing the most recent draft of the script alongside Knate Lee and Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber.