Why Did New Mutants Flop? Disney's Worst X-Men Disaster Explained
The X-Men franchise made over $7 billion at the box office across nearly two decades. But then came The New Mutants — a movie so bungled, it barely made a blip before being buried alive by Disney.
It's not just the worst-performing X-Men film ever — it's one of the most forgettable superhero releases of the last 20 years. Here's how it happened.
A Franchise That Printed Money — Until It Didn't
Before Disney took over Fox, the X-Men franchise was a cash machine. Even the duds made hundreds of millions:
- Deadpool: $782 million
- Logan: $614 million
- Days of Future Past: $748 million
- Even Dark Phoenix — a widely mocked disaster — scraped up $246 million.
Then came The New Mutants, which couldn't even crack $50 million worldwide. Its final box office haul? Just $47 million. For an X-Men film, that's pocket change — barely 10% of what the average X-Men title pulled in.
The New Mutants: Great Cast, Wasted Potential
On paper, this one should've worked. The cast alone was a studio executive's dream:
- Anya Taylor-Joy, fresh off critical buzz.
- Maisie Williams, a global name from Game of Thrones.
- Charlie Heaton, riding Stranger Things fame.
They were playing fan-favorite mutants like Magik, Wolfsbane, and Cannonball. The pitch? A claustrophobic, horror-tinged spin on the X-Men formula — mutants trapped in an asylum, fighting their way out. Sounds like a slam dunk. But that's where the good news ended.
The Studio Merger That Killed It
The New Mutants was shot in 2017, intended for release in 2018. Then Disney bought Fox in 2019, and the whole thing got sidelined.
The film was supposed to undergo major reshoots to amp up the horror, tighten the story, and flesh out character arcs. Those reshoots never happened. By the time Disney was in charge, the studio reportedly had zero interest in salvaging a Fox superhero movie they didn't initiate. As a result, The New Mutants sat on a shelf gathering dust — a half-finished product no one wanted to claim.
When it finally limped into theaters in August 2020, it was in the middle of a global pandemic. Theaters were empty, many were closed, and streaming wasn't yet an option. It was cinematic roadkill before it even hit screens.
Disney Released It To Die
Disney inherited a problem and decided to bury it rather than fix it. The studio quietly dropped the film in a no-win slot, did little to no marketing, and let it rot.
Even Vulture reported that insiders said the studio was "displeased" with the final cut. But finishing it properly would've cost more than Disney was willing to spend on a property they didn't plan to continue.
By the time The New Mutants was released, the cast had aged out of their roles, the X-Men universe at Fox was officially dead, and audiences had bigger things to worry about than a half-baked horror-superhero hybrid.
What Went Wrong: Quick Recap
- Filmed in 2017 with plans for reshoots — never happened.
- Delayed repeatedly due to the Disney-Fox merger.
- Dumped in theaters during the height of COVID-19.
- Marketing was minimal to non-existent.
- Disney had no plans to revive the Fox X-Men universe, so the film was an orphan from the start.
Is It Worth Watching Now?
Surprisingly, yes — at least for Anya Taylor-Joy's scene-stealing performance as Magik. Some fans still argue her portrayal deserves to be revived in the MCU, but Disney seems content to move on.
If you're a completist or just curious about how badly a superhero movie can be mishandled, The New Mutants is a fascinating watch. Not good — but fascinating. A movie gutted by corporate mergers, studio indifference, and a pandemic. In other words: a perfect storm of failure.
And that's how Disney ended up with the worst X-Men movie flop of all time — a disaster they barely acknowledged on the way to the MCU reboot.