Over the weekend, New Mutants director Josh Boone tweeted out a piece of concept art of Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams as the Scottish lupine mutant Wolfsbane. In fact, Boone tagged both the artist and the Arya Stark actress in the tweet, all but confirming was has been rumored for several months, that Williams had landed the role of the werewolf student of Xavier’s School for the Gifted. You can see Boone’s tweet below:
Wolfsbane by Mid-World’s very own @AshleyRGuillory @Maisie_Williams pic.twitter.com/XskXseRwK2
— Josh Boone (@JoshBooneMovies) February 12, 2017
However, it could be a smokescreen, and maybe Maisie Williams is up for an entirely different mutant role. It’s not above the makers of these movies to troll the fans hard sometimes using social media and play with our expectations. So while we think that it’s almost a certainty that Williams is in this movie (or possibly another X-Men universe film) maybe she’s not necessarily playing Wolfsbane? Here are our guesses as to who Maisie could be playing, starting with the most obvious choice:
Wolfsbane
Okay, Boone probably isn’t trolling the fans and it’s very likely that Maisie Williams is indeed playing Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane. To be completely honest, she would be perfect for the role. In the comics, Rahne (pronounced “rain”) was raised by a Reverend, who told her that her werewolf-like mutancy was a result of her being in league with Satan. This turned the deeply religious Rahne into a ball of self loathing and rage, one that took Professor Xavier and her fellow students a long time to get her to work through. We all know from Game of Thrones that Maisie Williams can do pint-sized ball of rage very well, which makes her perfect for Wolfsbane. So odds are, that’s who she is actually playing.
Rachel Summers
However, if we are being trolled and Williams is playing another mutant, I think I know who it could be (or at least who I would like it to be). New Mutants isn’t the only X-Men film going into production soon. Actress Sophie Turner confirmed she is going before the cameras soon to film a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse, which everyone is expecting to be a Dark Phoenix Saga do-over. What if Maisie Williams shows up in this film instead, possibly as Rachel Summers?
For those not super familiar with the comic book lore, Rachel Summers is the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from a dystopian, alternate future, who comes back in time to join the X-Men. This would be another ideal role for Williams to play. And wouldn’t it be trippy if the actresses who play sisters on Game of Thrones were playing mother and daughter in another franchise?
Magma
Ok, back to reality. Since Josh Boone tweeted the image, chances are that Williams is playing a part in New Mutants, since that’s the film he’s actually directing. Boone has previously suggested that the line-up of comic characters in New Mutants would include Wolfsbane, Mirage, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magick, and Warlock. Mirage is Native American, and Magick is a curvy Russian blonde, so she is probably not playing either of those two. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t added other New Mutants characters from the comics to the lineup since then.
One possibility is Magma, a volcano powered member of the team, who joined around the same time as the other characters we know to be in the film. Magma, whose real name is Amara Aquila, comes from the fictional country of Nova Roma (New Rome), a colony of the ancient Roman Republic founded after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The colony is hidden in the Amazon Rainforests of modern Brazil, and when Amara was revealed as a mutant, her father sent her to Xavier’s School in America. Well, if they do introduce Magma it’s possible they skip all that whole “from a lost Roman colony” part and just make her from Manchester, England. I don’t think anyone will mind.
Pixie
Pixie, real name Megan Gwynn, is a more recent member of the X-Men, but since the movies mix and match timelines big time, there is no reason that she couldn’t be in a New Mutants film. And the character originated as a junior member of the Xavier Academy, so she would fit right in with the New Mutants’ world. Megan Gwynn’s mutation grants her pixie-like eyes, colorful wings that allow her to fly, and “pixie dust” which causes hallucinations.
Eventually, she learns how to use real magic, but if she ever appears in an X-Men film, I doubt they’ll go that route. Pixie is a more whimsical, light hearted character than the one we are used to see her playing on Game of Thrones, but who is to say she doesn’t have the range? Besides, at only 5’1, Maisie Williams is already Pixie-sized.
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Which X-Men universe character do you think suits Maisie Willimas best? Should Josh Boone do the expected and cast her as Wolfsbane, or are you hoping for something a little more out of left field? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Everything You Missed in the Logan Trailer:
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Images: HBO / Marvel Comics
