'New Mutants' Cast Rumors: Charlie Heaton to Take Cannonball's Role?
"Game of Thrones" star Maisie Williams and "Split" actress Anya Taylor-Joy have already been cast in the "X-Men" spin-off "New Mutants" as Wolfsbane and Magik, respectively. Now, there are rumors that Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan Byers in the popular Netflix series "Stranger Things," will be joining the X-Men family as well.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the actor is in talks to play Sam Guthrie a.k.a. Cannonball, a teenage mutant who has the ability to fly at jet speed while being protected by a strong force field. If he does get the role, this will be his first feature project since the release "Stranger Things."
"We are making a full-fledged horror movie set within the X-Men universe," writer-director Josh Boone revealed to Entertainment Weekly. "There are no costumes. There are no supervillains. We're trying to do something very, very different."
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It is more likely for Heaton to be cast as Cannonball as opposed to previous front-runner Nat Wolff, according to Screen Rant, since "Stranger Things" has become one of the most popular original series on Netflix. As "New Mutants" is said to have a horror-thriller vibe, casting someone who came from a well-known horror themed series may give the film more credibility.
In other news, it has been reported that Brazilian actor Henry Zaga has been cast as Roberto "Bobby" da Costa a.k.a. Sunspot, a young mutant with an ability to absorb solar energy and use it to fuel his superhuman strength.
The announcement came from Boone's Instagram account, wherein he shared an photo of the actor beside the image of Sunspot.
Another rumored addition to the cast is "The Defenders" actress Rosario Dawson, who is in talks to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes.
Filming for "New Mutants" will start in July and it is scheduled to hit theaters on April 13, 2018.
