Charlie Heaton from "Stranger Things" is in talks to play an X-men in the upcoming film "New Mutants." The actor could likely play the role of Cannonball, a teenage mutant who has the ability to fly at high speed while encircled with a force field.
No other details about his character have been released so far but if Charlie Heaton agrees and signs on for "New Mutants," he will be working alongside Maisie Williams ("Game of Thrones") and Anya Taylor-Joy ("Split"). Williams will play Rahne Sinclair a.k.a. Wolfsbane, who is a religious young girl struggling with the fact that she can turn into a wolf.
Taylor-Joy will play Illyana Rasputin a.k.a. Magik, who knows sorcery and has the skill to teleport.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rosario Dawson ("Daredevil") is also being eyed for the movie. She will play a medical doctor and mentor to the young mutants. She also has an ability to generate power.
Redefining X-men
Fox is the studio behind "New Mutants." Reports say executives want to redefine the genre to feature young adult superheroes.
"New Mutants" will be more of a horror movie and it will delve on young people trying to manage their super abilities, as well as learn to deal with the threats and dangers of being different and powerful. The movie will open with the mutants housed in a secret facility where they are made to believe having powers make them bad.
If things go as planned, production and filming will begin in July in Boston and the movie will be in theaters in April 2018. Josh Boone has been tapped to direct and co-write the script with Knate Lee.
Get to know Charlie Heaton
British actor Charlie Heaton played the quiet and brooding Jonathan Bryers on Netflix's "Stranger Things." After the series became a hit for the streaming site when it launched in July 2016, nearly everyone in the cast shot to fame and became the TV's next big stars.
Fans loved his character on "Stranger Things" because he was the good kid everyone rooted to get the girl, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). Fans were equally thrilled when rumors surfaced Heaton and Dyer are dating in real life.
"New Mutants" will be Charlie Heaton's first feature film after "Stranger Things." Work on the show's second season, which will drop on Netflix this Halloween, has almost wrapped up, which means he's ready to be in the X-Men set by July. The actor previously starred in films like "Shut In" with Naomi Watts and "As You Are," an indie movie.
