x-men

The first trailer for Fox’s X-Men spin-off The New Mutants dropped at midnight last night, and it looks like we are getting our first true horror-themed superhero film.

Starring rising stars Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why) and Blu Hunt (The Originals) — The New Mutants appears to be taking its cues from the incredibly influential and deeply disturbing “Demon Bear” storyline from the original series.

The New Mutants comic was Marvel’s first try (of many) at capitalizing on the popularity of the X-Men franchise with a new title. After the original X-Men went missing, Professor X assembled a new team of young mutants and began training them. And the team stuck together even after the original X-Men returned.

While the book started as traditional superhero fare, and ended by being transformed into the testosterone-soaked, guns-and-swords, very ’90s X-Force, in between there was a period when artist Bill Sienkiewicz joined writer Chris Claremont and they pushed the envelope of superhero comics into unexplored areas — particularly horror.

Their first story together — The Demon Bear Saga — explores what happens when a supernatural entity from her past stalks Native American team member Danielle Moonstar (Mirage) eventually pulling the entire team into a mystical realm known as “The Badlands” where they must fight the demonic creature for their very souls.