Lauren Shuler Donner addressed some key subjects during the TCA presentation for Legion and key amongst them was the future of the X-Men franchise as well as the status of Gambit and whether or not The New Mutants will skip a release in theaters and go straight to Hulu.
In regards to X-Men, Donner is ready to hand over the reins to Disney and Marvel’s Kevin Feige and thinks the franchise will be in good hands:
“Kevin Feige and I started the first movie, he worked for me, he has a great story sense when it comes to weaving each world together, I trust him and I trust where he will take it.”
In regards to the Gambit film that have been in a bit of development hell with Channing Tatum still attached, it looks like whatever decision happens with it will be determined by Disney and Marvel. There’s no director attached to the film even though Fox has it dated for March 13, 2020.
The subject of the fate of The New Mutants was also addressed. The film has been moved several times on the calendar and is currently dated for August 2 of this year but there are rumors that they will skip a run in theaters and release it straight to Hulu. The latter is something that Donner doesn’t want to see happen:
“They worked hard on it. I want to see it released (theatrically), I’d hate to see it thrown at Hulu.”
The decision of what happens with The New Mutants is just added to the list of decisions that will be made once Fox is completely in the Disney fold. There are no plans to abandon the release date or a run in theaters as of now, but this could change in the coming months.
