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Recently, it was revealed that the long-delayed ‘X-Men’ spin-off film, “The New Mutants,” was the subject of yet another release date change. It’s been two years since we were originally supposed to see director Josh Boone’s vision for the superhero horror film hit the big screen, but the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic had other ideas. Now, the film doesn’t have a release date and the anticipation builds even more. But according to the filmmaker, he doesn’t feel worried about fans and critics not reacting well to his film, thanks in no small part to last year’s “Dark Phoenix.”

READ MORE: ‘New Mutants’ Director Has A Clear Vision For A Trilogy & Is “Bummed” By The Fox/Disney Merger

Speaking to Empire (via Digital Spy), Boone talked about the pressures of creating a film like “The New Mutants” and why last year’s “Dark Phoenix” helped make things a bit less stressful because, as he said, the film is “one of the worst-reviewed movies of last year.”

“Look, you can only go up after ‘Dark Phoenix,’” said Boone. “That’s not to say anything bad about the people involved, but it was what it was. Honestly, I feel less pressure now than I did ahead of [the first slated release date]. Because we’ve tested our movie so many times, and audiences have loved it.”

READ MORE: Simon Kinberg Falls On The Sword For ‘Dark Phoenix’ Critical & Box Office Failure: “That’s On Me”

While the frankness of his comment might catch most people off-guard, especially considering franchise filmmakers normally will talk up previous films in the series out of sheer obligation, it’s really refreshing to see someone like Josh Boone say something that we’re all thinking. Even if “The New Mutants” isn’t a great horror film and does little to push forward the superhero film genre, if it’s competently made, well-acted, and ultimately makes sense, then it has the advantage over “Dark Phoenix.”

And even if the film stinks, “The New Mutants” has the benefit of lowered expectations, as most fans are going into the film expecting the worse after the monumental disappointment of Simon Kinberg’s 2019 film. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t appear that we’re going to see Boone’s film anytime soon.