The New Mutants Director Reveals Sacha Baron Cohen Was Almost Cast as Warlock

After two years of release date delays, The New Mutants is set to finally debut in theaters later this month, showcasing a new take on the X-Men universe along with it. The iconic Marvel Comics group has had multiple different iterations over the years, and fans have been delighted to see how the film would honor all of that. According to a new report, that almost included a pretty inspired piece of casting -- Sacha Baron Cohen as Warlock. Nerdist reports that The New Mutants director Josh Boone initially wanted Cohen to appear in the movie as essentially the "Andy Serkis of Warlock", with a mo-cap performance similar to Gollum in Lord of the Rings. Apparently, Cohen's portrayal of Warlock was ultimately scrapped due to budget constraints, with Boone being forced to choose between including Warlock and featuring the Demon Bear, which we know is included in the movie.

This isn't the first time that Boone has spoken about Warlock almost being in the film, with the director previously hinting that the goal was to include him in a hypothetical sequel.

"Karma was always going to be the villain in the second movie that would be absorbed into the group by the end," Boone explained in March of this year. "We had always wanted to bring Karma and Warlock into the second one when we couldn't do it in the first one."

Still, the detail of Cohen - who is best known for his roles in films like Borat and Madagascar - portraying the eccentric Marvel character is certainly revolutionary. While there's no indication of whether or not we'll get to see a New Mutants sequel, fans are surely going to imagine what Cohen's take on Warlock would have entailed.

The New Mutants will follow five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves. The film will star Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Anya Taylor-Joy Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes.

What do you think of this newest The New Mutants update? Would you have wanted to see Sacha Baron Cohen play Warlock in the movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The New Mutants is currently scheduled to be released on August 28th.