Just for context, I started collecting New Mutants with issue #1 and stopped shortly after Rob Liefield took over as penciler. Meaning, I quit just in time to miss the first appearance of Deadpool in issue #98 (which, financially speaking, would have paid off for the first eight years of collecting).
We can agree that it was a terrible idea to try and make New Mutants as a horror movie, but for sheer entertainment value, I think it stacks up favorably when you compare it to other Marvel horror adaptations: Blade, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius, and Venom. Not to say that the Blade and Ghost Rider movies didn't make a lot of money. Also, not to throw shade at Werewolf By Night, which is clearly an outlier in terms of quality movie making.
I think we should acknowledge that these movies spring from comic books aren't truly in the horror genre either. They may muck around with horror tropes, but for the most part, we're talking about action stories with monstrous anti-heroes. I'd even include Marv Wolfman's run on Tomb of Dracula in that category. EC and other publishers made great horror comics, but not with ongoing characters. To my mind, we really didn't see a sustained horror narrative until Alan Moore took over Swamp Thing.
If you want to compare The New Mutants movie to the X-Men franchise, you have to admit that the kids don't have a fraction of the X-Men's cultural cache. If their comics didn't sell nearly as well as the X-Men books, you shouldn't be surprised if their movie doesn't do as well. Especially when it's made for a fraction of the budget and released during Covid. Even with all of that aside, and fully acknowledging all of New Mutant's flaws, at least it didn't ruin any important story arcs. Just wish X-Men, with its botched handling of everything from the Phoenix Saga to Days of Future Past could stay the same. At least Deadpool was able to get a franchise to redeem his original mutilation (literally).
One last point for those who aren't familiar with the comic books. The demon bear being referenced in the movie comes from New Mutants #18 and #19, the first two issues drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz.
Just for context, I started collecting New Mutants with issue #1 and stopped shortly after Rob Liefield took over as penciler. Meaning, I quit just in time to miss the first appearance of Deadpool in issue #98 (which, financially speaking, would have paid off for the first eight years of collecting).
We can agree that it was a terrible idea to try and make New Mutants as a horror movie, but for sheer entertainment value, I think it stacks up favorably when you compare it to other Marvel horror adaptations: Blade, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius, and Venom. Not to say that the Blade and Ghost Rider movies didn't make a lot of money. Also, not to throw shade at Werewolf By Night, which is clearly an outlier in terms of quality movie making.
I think we should acknowledge that these movies spring from comic books aren't truly in the horror genre either. They may muck around with horror tropes, but for the most part, we're talking about action stories with monstrous anti-heroes. I'd even include Marv Wolfman's run on Tomb of Dracula in that category. EC and other publishers made great horror comics, but not with ongoing characters. To my mind, we really didn't see a sustained horror narrative until Alan Moore took over Swamp Thing.
If you want to compare The New Mutants movie to the X-Men franchise, you have to admit that the kids don't have a fraction of the X-Men's cultural cache. If their comics didn't sell nearly as well as the X-Men books, you shouldn't be surprised if their movie doesn't do as well. Especially when it's made for a fraction of the budget and released during Covid. Even with all of that aside, and fully acknowledging all of New Mutant's flaws, at least it didn't ruin any important story arcs. Just wish X-Men, with its botched handling of everything from the Phoenix Saga to Days of Future Past could stay the same. At least Deadpool was able to get a franchise to redeem his original mutilation (literally).
One last point for those who aren't familiar with the comic books. The demon bear being referenced in the movie comes from New Mutants #18 and #19, the first two issues drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz.
Thanks for the context!