The New Mutants Producer on Where It Falls in the X-Men Timeline

Despite rumors that suggested otherwise over the course of the past couple of years, The New Mutants is still scheduled to play in theaters around the world on the big screen, albeit at a later date than initially expected. Fox’s last X-Men movie is set to hit theaters on April 3rd, finally bringing an end to what has seemed like a long and tumultuous saga to the screen. Fortunately, Disney’s new trailer for the film actually has fans excited, as it promises the intense action and horror of the original trailer that debuted online a couple of years ago. The New Mutants looks totally unique compared to other Marvel movies out there, and that is certainly becoming a selling point.

Unlike other X-Men movies in the past, The New Mutants can exist completely on its own, telling a story that doesn’t need to be set in a specific period or moment in a grander timeline. During a visit to the set of New Mutants in 2017,Digital Spy heard from producer Karen Rosenfelt, who explained exactly when the film is taking place.

“It’s contemporary timeless,” said Rosenfelt. “We don’t define where we are, but it is today. It’s contemporary. It’s not way in the future and it’s not in the past.”

Rosenfelt continued on to compare New Mutants to Deadpool, but not in the way of language or boundary pushing or anything like that. The Ryan Reynolds franchise mostly exists on its own. Save for one hilarious cameo in the second film, the Deadpool franchise has remained separate from the rest of the live-action X-Men movies. New Mutants will do the same.

“I think it’s safe to say,” she added. “But again, what we’re striving for, as they did with Deadpool, is what Fox and Simon [Kinberg] are doing with each of the franchises in the X-Men universe is making them all signature unique.”

It’s also worth remembering that the X-Men franchise is in a much different place now than where it was when the New Mutants set visit took place in 2017. Disney has since bought Fox, absorbing all of its assets including the rights to Marvel’s X-Men characters. This will essentially end the standalone film franchise as the majority of the characters will likely be folded into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Of course, if The New Mutants turns out to be a big hit, there’s always a chance it could continue on its own, or even as a part of the MCU. Ryan Reynolds’ take on Deadpool will continue on past the merger, thanks to the massive success of both R-rated movies. Perhaps the same could happen for New Mutants.

The New Mutants hits theaters on April 3rd.