Why THE NEW MUTANTS Would’ve Worked Better As A Streaming Series Than A Theatrical Film

When The New Mutants finally hit theaters in 2020, after years of delays, reshoots, and a merger between Disney and Fox, it arrived as a strange relic of another era. Billed as a horror-tinged superhero movie set in the X-Men universe, the film struggled to define itself. Too small-scale for a cinematic blockbuster, yet too condensed to truly explore its characters or horror elements. While the film had ambition and some strong performances, its theatrical release ultimately didn’t do it any favors. In fact, The New Mutants would’ve been far better suited as a streaming series. Here’s why.

At its core, The New Mutants was a coming-of-age tale with a horror twist; a group of young mutants trapped in a secretive facility, discovering their powers and the truth about their captors. That’s fertile ground for character-driven storytelling, but cramming it all into 94 minutes means each arc felt rushed or underdeveloped.

A streaming show could have taken the time to flesh out the emotional trauma and personal struggles of each mutant, including Rahne’s religious guilt, Dani’s fear-based powers, Illyana’s abuse and defense mechanisms, Sam’s survivor’s guilt, and Roberto’s frustration. These are deep character threads, but the film barely scratched the surface. In a six-to-eight episode series, these arcs could’ve matured more organically, with each episode potentially focusing on one character’s backstory and perspective.

Director Josh Boone intended to blend The Breakfast Club with A Nightmare on Elm Street, a clever idea that suffered from the film’s limited runtime and its PG-13 constraints. Horror thrives on atmosphere, pacing, and a slow-burn tension, which are things that are hard to achieve when you’re racing through exposition and action to fit a tight theatrical format.

As a streaming series, the horror could’ve been spread across episodes, with growing dread and mystery as viewers gradually uncover what’s really going on at the facility. The “Demon Bear” concept, rooted in surreal psychological horror from the comics, needed more than 20 minutes at the climax to feel earned. On streaming, this storyline could’ve been teased out across multiple episodes, allowing it to unfold in disturbing, dreamlike sequences, making the horror elements feel more impactful and integrated.

Not every story is meant to be a blockbuster hit, and The New Mutants didn’t need to be. Its tone, themes, and cast lent themselves to a more niche, cult-following model, which is the kind that thrives on streaming platforms. Shows like Doom Patrol and The Umbrella Academy have proven that audiences are hungry for weirder, more character-driven superhero stories that play out over time.

With the theatrical release, The New Mutants was judged by box office numbers and mainstream expectations. On a platform like Hulu or Disney+, it might’ve been better received as a moody, low-budget gem with a steady fanbase. Streaming lowers the stakes in a way that benefits experimental genre-blenders like this.

Let’s not forget the reality of when The New Mutants was released. It hit theaters in August 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic. Even outside of the delays and distribution chaos caused by the Disney-Fox merger, the film landed in a time when audiences were shifting heavily toward streaming. I did make my way to the theater when it came out, but was the only person there – something I definitely didn’t mind during that period.

The New Mutants has the bones of something special; young, diverse characters, an experimental tone, and a light horror/thriller aesthetic that sets it apart. But it was stuck in a format that didn’t fully support its ambitions. In a world where streaming has become a haven for unconventional storytelling, it’s easy to imagine this story thriving as a series rather than a rushed theatrical release.

Maybe someday Marvel Studios will revisit these characters with the attention they deserve. Until then, The New Mutants remains as 20th Century’s most unique project nestled at the end of the legendary 20-year-long X-Men film franchise.