New Mutants (TV series)

New Mutants is an American animated high school dramedy series created by Tim Federle for Disney+, and based on the team of the same name by Chris Clrmont and Bob McLeod. Produced Disney Television Animation and Marvel Animation, New Mutants stars Kelly Marie Trian, Kelly McDonald, Destiny Nicole Frasqueri, Eric Bauza, and Ícaro Silva. The series explores the lives of the newest students at the Xavier Institue for the Gifted Youngsters.

Lauren Faust first pitched a TV series based on the New Mutants in the 2010s, but was rejected. In 2035, Tim Federle came with a different pitch for the series, which Marvel and Disney executives approved. The series was announced in January 2035, while the cast was announced the following year. While implementing elements from previous incarnations, Federle wanted the series to differ from previous X-Men series by focusing more on the Xavier Institute and the students, drawing inspiration from his work on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Animation services were provided by Studio Mir.

New Mutants premiered its first season on February 27, 2037 for an 18-episode run.

Synopsis
Closed off teenager Mạnh Cao Xuân finds her life flipped upside down when she discovers she is a mutant. Her foster parents then have her taken to the Xavier Institute for the Gifted Youngsters, where she is forced to share her room with five other new students: Rahne Sinclair, Danielle Moonstar, Samuel Zachary Guthrie, and Roberto DaCosta. The five will from then learn to grow and live together as the school's new mutants.

Main cast

 * Kelly Marie Trian as Mạnh Cao Xuân / Karma: A closed off and traumatized teenager with telepathic abilities.
 * Kelly McDonald as Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane: A shy and timid teenager with the ability to change into a wolf.
 * Destiny Nicole Frasqueri as Danielle Moonstar / Mirage: A friendly teenager with empathic abilities.
 * Eric Bauza as Samuel Zachary Guthrie / Cannonball: An impulsive yet unassuming teenager able to release thermo-kinetic energy from his body.
 * Ícaro Silva as Roberto DaCosta / Sunspot: A hotheaded but loyal teenager capable of maipulating fire around his body.
 * Ulka Simone Mohanty as Jeanne-Marie Beaubier / Aurora (season 2-onwards): A Canadian mutant with superhuman strength and the ability to fly, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Mohanty compared Beaubier and Aurora to Oscar and Felix from The Odd Couple, with Beaubier being a "quiet, elegant lady" and Aurora being a hedonist. Federle introduced them into the season because he wanted to explore how students interacted with someone with a mental illness.
 * Sarah-Nicole Robles as Rachael Summers (season 2-onwards): A new student at the Institute and Cyclops and Jean Grey's daughter, who is a traveler from another reality who had to move to the series' main universe. Federle said he found the idea of Summers being part of the group in season 2 "interesting" due to how her relationship with the teachers affect how they see her and "how this is affected when they get to know her".

Recurring cast

 * Morgan Freeman as Professor Charles Xavier: The headmaster and owner of the Institute
 * James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops: A teacher at the Institute. Marsden reprises his role from the 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series.
 * Cree Summer as Ororo Munroe / Storm: A teacher at the Institute.
 * Chloe Bennet as Jubilation Lee / Jubilee: The newest teacher at the Xavier Institute.
 * John Cena as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast: A teacher at the Xavier Institute and Sinclair's mentor.
 * Elizabeth Grullon as Jean Grey: Cyclops' wife and a teacher at the Institute.

Guest roles

 * Halle Berry as Lady Sif: An Asgardian warrior. Berry previously played Storm in the Fox X-Men films.
 * Brandon Roth as Thor Odinson: An Avenger and the Crown Prince of Asgard.
 * Laura Bailey as Angelica Jones / Firestar: A substitute teacher at the Xavier Institute. Bailey reprises her role from The Super Hero Squad Show.

Writing
Federle said he didn't wanted the series to fall into "superhero storytelling", instead wanting it to be "a high school story where the characters happen to have superpowers", comparing it to the 2015 DC Superhero Girls webseries. He also cited the Tiny Toons franchise and his work on the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series as inspirations. While he based the characters' arcs on those from the comics, Federle wanted to give them their own spin, such as Mirage being "friendly but not energetic" and Cannonball being "calm but jumping-without-thinking". Regarding the implatation of characters from other X-Men properties and the larger Marvel universe, Federle said he looked into the New Mutants and X-Men comics for inspiration, but also wanted to have as many nods and characters as allowed by Marvel without compromising the storytelling.

According to Federle, one lf the things he wanted to explore in the show was "how is a school year at the Xavier Institute?", wanting to depict "X-Men versions" of everyday high school-related subjects such as prom and trip days. The writers accomplished this by taking such things and "giving them a mutant spin" to have the characters use their powers in the show.

Trivia

 * New Mutants is Tim Federle's first animated show; he previously co-wrote the animated film Ferdinand (2017).
 * This is the first appearance of Thor in an X-Men show.