In a previous article, I mentioned why Cannonball (as announced) and Emma Frost should not be part of X3. My reason for such was that the New Mutants should have their own movie with the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle as the main antagonist.

Ah, procrastination and responsibilities - two things that prevented me from beating Marvel to the punch. I was going to post this article about a New Mutants movie - and should have - a month or so ago, but now Marvel has announced that Zak Penn, the scribe for X2 and X3, will be doing a spin-off based on the younger mutants at the Xavier Institute. What other than the New Mutants could it be (doubtfully another Generation X film)? Perhaps that is why Cannonball is being introduced in X3. Moreover, Artie and Siryn were already in X2, as was Cypher (though I did not know this until having read an article on his actor’s return in X3 - IMDb has him listed simply as “X-Kid”).

Furthermore, with the elder Warren Worthington (should be Jr, but is being labeled as Sr) being the antagonist and his son Angel (should be III, but is being labeled as Jr) being one of the main characters, it seems highly likely that the Hellfire Club will also be introduced in X3. Additionally, the deaths to be in X3 could reflect how the focus in comics (mainly Xavier’s) turned from the superhero team X-Men to the supposedly students-only group of New Mutants.

With that said, I will now present my cast for the New Mutants movie. The New Mutants themselves would consist of the five original members (Cannonball, Karma, Psyche, Wolfsbane, and Sunspot) as well as the popular girls Magma and Boom Boom (made even moreso popular thanks to “X-Men: Evolution”) - making for seven members, a traditional number for a team roster in comics. Cypher and Siryn should be put on a back burner until a sequel (see reasons at the end of this article), though this would be unlikely since they have already been shown in X2.

The Hellfire Club would focus on five Inner Circle members: Sebastian Shaw, the Black King being the essence of the group; Emma Frost, the White Queen being the most popular of the Circle; Harry Leland, as the Black Bishop is Shaw’s most loyal Circle member; Donald Pierce, the cyborg White Bishop being an appealing attraction to FX junkies (plus he was a primary villain in Marvel Graphic Novel No. 4: The New Mutants, which introduced the team); and Selene, the Black Queen representing a more sinister side of the group (and pivotal in Magma’s origin). Other classic Circle members would simply have small parts or cameos.

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New Mutants

One note on my choices of older cast members - without being able to hold a casting call (as I am not a Hollywood hot shot) and without watching a lot of soap operas and teen dramas (which I don’t), it is difficult to find adequate choices to play teenage roles. Thus, I must work with what I know. Even so, Tobey Maguire did Peter Parker, a high-school student, well in 2002’s Spider-Man, and he was 27 years-old at the time!

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Brady Corbet as Cannonball/Samuel Guthrie

  

While not exactly a spitting image of Sammy, Brady Corbet (Thunderbirds) can play the goofball yokel well.

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Junie Hoang as Karma/Xi’an “Shan” Coy Mahn

  

This choice may not be all too great as I am not familiar with her acting abilities, but she is a fitting young Vietnamese woman, albeit 27 years-old.

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Erika Page as Psyche/Mirage/Danielle “Dani” Moonstar

  

Again, this 29 year-old may be too old, but she in the very least resembles the current, adult Cheyenne character.

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Alexis Bledel as Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair

  

The 23 year-old Alexis Bledel is already familiar with comic-book-turn-movie adaptations as she was in this year’s hit Sin City. If she can do a believable Scottish accent, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star would be good as Rahne (pronounced “rainy” not “ronnie”).

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Rodrigo Santoro as Sunspot/Roberto “Robbie” DaCosta

     

How appropriate - a Brazilian actor as a Brazilian character. Though nigh on 30 years-old himself, blame… er, credit for this casting job belongs to my friend Silverwolf.

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Hayden Panettiere as Magma/Amara Aquilla, fka Allison Crestmere

     

Alas, not since Cannonball was I able to cast a teenager in the role of a teenager. As such, both of these characters were my earliest choices for the New Mutants casting. Hayden Panettiere (Racing Stripes) is one of the most promising young actresses to come along in years, and she has beauty to boot. She would make for an excellent princess like Magma (also made popular as the main character in the video game X-Men Legends).

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Avril Lavigne as Boom Boom/Meltdown/Tabitha Smith

   

Though not a member of the team until later on in comics, Boom Boom is probably the most popular do to her rebellious nature (moreso prominent in “X-Men: Evolution”). Who better than the rebellious 20 year-old pop star Avril Lavigne to portray the bomb producing teen? “Sk8r Boi” meet Boom Girl.

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Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle

For those of you unfamiliar with the group, the Hellfire Club is a freemasonry-type organization. The Inner Circle of the group, named for chess pieces, has been a pain in the butt for the X-Men since 1980.

With movies such as the adaptations of comics, the marketing linchpins are usually big-name stars who are not the central characters. In X-Men, Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan were used to promote the film when Wolverine was the central character. More recently, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were used to push Batman Begins even though Christian Bale was in the title role. For New Mutants, the linchpins would not be any of the good guys for whom the film is titled. Instead, the three big wigs of the Inner Circle would be cast with the big names.

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Kate Beckinsale as Emma Frost, the White Queen

  

About a decade ago, the Inner Circle’s White Queen, Emma Frost, reformed and joined Xavier in teaching mutants for the good (whereas she had once taught them for bad - see the end of this article). She first mentored the group Generation X in the mid-1990s, and a television movie was made based on that team; therefore, a New Mutants movie would not be Frost’s first live-action appearance. She was originally portrayed by Finola Hughes (“General Hospital,” “Charmed”).

  

While Hughes was all right as Frost, the New Mutants movie would need her to return to her classic role as nemesis, the one figure who confused many of the students so that they didn’t know for which side they should be fighting. Rabid fans of the current “good” Emma may protest this claim, but if the New Mutants story is to stay true to the comics, Frost would need to be a villainess (perhaps later she could turn good in the movies). Kate Beckinsale would portray the snotty, conniving, psychic-who-can-turn-her-skin-diamond-hard very well.

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Gabriel Byrne as Sebastian Shaw, the Black King

  

While he is not as robust as Shaw is in the comics, Gabriel Byrne has the look and demeanor of the power-hungry and vengeful mutant Black King (provided he grows some sideburns, as has been added digitally in the photo above). Moreover, Shaw’s massive figure was not his original form as said mass was given to him by a dying Harry Leland (see below). So, it is possible that Byrne could be pumped with CGI in the movie. Then again, Ian McKellan is far from the physique of Magneto in the comics, so Byrne as himself would do just as well.

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Michelle Pfeiffer as Selene, the Black Queen

  

The third and final marketing key would lie in the form of the sultry and cunning Michelle Pfeiffer, whose turn as Catwoman in Batman Returns reflects well how she would handle performance as the Black Queen of the screen (though rarely seen) Selene. “Life’s a bitch, now so am I,” as Catwoman so aptly put it, is a good way to describe the charlatan that is Selene. While Shaw and Frost would lead the villainy of the script, Selene would only show herself every once in a while as a treat, both to the evil-obsessed and Pfeiffer fans alike. Let the actress get a tan, and we can all say “Meow.”

PS - No pun intended with Catwoman's real name Selina Kyle (I only thought of that after hours of working on this article).

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The final two prominently featured Inner Circle members would be:

James Cosmo as Harry Leland, the Black Bishop

  

Of all the casting choices I have made for this movie, this one is probably the closest match - what a spitting image!

Probably best known for his role in Braveheart, James Cosmo is both an excellent actor and a robust fellow - a combination rarely found. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe star would help Leland go down in a state of glory, as many of Cosmo’s roles do, unfortunately.

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Alan Tudyk as Donald Pierce, the White Bishop

  

Playing a cyborg is not a huge leap for the guy best known as the voice of Sonny in I, Robot, but it would definitely be more of a challenge. I had originally thought Tudyk to be a good choice for Havok, Cyclops’ brother, but then realized that he is both older than James Marsden (who plays Cyclops) and not quite striking enough to be a Summers boy. Upon looking for someone to play the cowardly Pierce, however, I had no second thoughts about using Tudyk (though I’m now still looking for someone to play Havok).

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Supporting Cast

There are other important roles that would need to be in the movie as well, but they would all be smaller parts if not only cameos. I have not cast Inner Circle members Emmanuel DaCosta, the White Rook (who is Sunspot’s father); Tessa/Sage; and Friedrich von Roehm, the Black Rook.

  

One cameo that would be nice to see, perhaps even if at the end of the movie, is Shinobi Shaw, Sebastian’s son - whom I have cast with Will Yun Lee.

  

Also, two supporting characters for the good guys that would be good to have in the beginning, at least, would be (1) Stevie Hunter (Alfre Woodard) and (2) Moira MacTaggert (Cate Blanchett).

(1)    

(2)   

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Cypher and Sequels

If there were to be sequels, the first one would most likely introduce (1) Cypher and (2) Warlock (thus why I previously stated that Cypher should not be in the first). The relationship between those two characters and Warlock’s alien race require too much attention to be simply squeezed into the first film. I would say that it would be best to have Cypher (aka Doug Ramsey) join the team in the beginning, just as the New Mutants are starting a struggle with the Hellions, Emma Frost’s own team of young mutants (which included Firestar from “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends”). Soon thereafter, Warlock would show up warning of how his race, the Phalanx, is coming to attack the Earth. Of course, as in the comics, Cypher - who can translate any language - would be the only one able to understand him; thus, no one would heed his warning amidst their rivalries, nor would they readily accept what Cypher is saying as he would be the newbie. When the aliens attack, the New Mutants would be forced to join forces with the Hellions to stop the invasion.

(1)       (2)

Too bad such a story has a few kinks in it. First of all, Cypher (as played by Layke Anderson) has already been shown at the Institute. Second, introducing both the Hellions and the Phalanx in one movie is too hefty; however, were it to work, the third New Mutants movie would introduce Magik (aka Illyana Rasputin, the younger sister of Colossus) and would revolve around her struggles with Belasco, Lord of Limbo. Other new mutants like Artie, Leech, Rusty, and Skids would also be introduced.

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Finally, Mastermind (aka Jason Wyngarde) would not appear in any of the New Mutant movies. While he was a major part of the Inner Circle during the Dark Phoenix Saga, he would not fit well into the New Mutant franchise. If X3 does entail both Dark Phoenix and the Hellfire Club, however, I am sure that Mastermind will have some part in that movie.