News has been rolling in for the recently confirmed X-Men: The New Mutants. Production will begin in May 2017 and if all goes well, New Mutants may end up being another trilogy. A storyboard and animation released by Fox last month teased Demon Bear as the main villain, and writer Josh Boone expanded on that reveal:
“We had loved Bill Sienkiewicz’s run with Chris Claremont that had Demon Bear,” Boone said in an interview with Creative Screenwriting. “It was really dark, interesting, and different from the typical X-Men stories that we had read.”
The animatic released last month, exclusively to ComingSoon.net, showed Wolfsbane, Cannonball and Magik going up against the psychic entity, Demon Bear, who haunted Mirage in the comics. ComingSoon.net also claimed Demon Bear was the main antagonist of the film in their report, but other outlets speculated otherwise. But the fact Boone specifically pointed out the Demon Bear arc suggests the creature may actually be at least one of the film’s main villains.
A demonic mutation of William and Peg Lonestar (the parents of Danielle Moonstar aka Mirage), Demon Bear feeds of negative human emotion. The energy gives him the enhanced strength, and the ability to teleport, transform, and corrupt souls. After being tormented by dreams of the Demon Bear, Mirage finally confronts the monster. She gets injured badly and the New Mutants step in. It’s ultimately Magik’s Soulsword that defeats the bear and Mirage’s parents reappear unharmed.
New Mutants will be an atypical X-Men movie and any arc surrounding Demon Bear certainly fits in the ‘unusual’ category. Targeting young adult audiences, the film has been described as a “Stephen King meets John Hughes.” X-Men’s Simon Kinberg has also said New Mutants will be very loyal to the comics.
Do you think Demon Bear is a worthy main villain? Let us know in the comments below. New Mutants is rumored for 2018 release.
