WARNING: The follwoing contains major spoilers for The New Mutants, now in theaters.

The New Mutants offers fans one last look at the Fox-era X-Men movies, this time focusing on a group of young mutants trying to learn to control their powers, making it a coming-of-age story featuring superpowered teenagers trapped in an abandoned hospital. They are unsure what they will do with their lives, but they must deal with ever present dangers and learn to work together; only then can they survive. Director Josh Boone did not attempt to hide one of his biggest influences for The New Mutants: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The series is not only an evident influence, but the show actively plays a role in the movie on more than one occasion, being seen on the television screens of the hospital. When the TV show appears in the film, it plays into what was happening to these young mutants as they try to discover themselves. There are two moments where the young mutants watch television, both times featuring an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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Characters of the New Mutants standing next to each other

In the first moment, the person paying the most attention is Rahne, who is watching an episode where Willow and Tara kiss, with Tara telling Willow she doesn't need to be afraid. This moment was groundbreaking when the series first aired, and here it plays into the movie's relationship between Rahne and Dani.

Rahne and Dani have always had a strong connection in the comics; although, it is primarily a psychic rapport they share. In the movie, it is more than that. The episode clearly effects Rahne, and after watching it, she sneaks Dani out of the hospital to watch a rainstorm as it crashes into the force field that surrounds the hospital. While there, they kiss and became more than friends.

The second episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in The New Mutants sees the Scooby Gang in an intense battle with hoards of vampires. It's clear the friends in Sunnydale have to work and fight together to survive in a world where monsters are real. That plays heavily into the entire theme of The New Mutants, where the heroes are the same age as those in Buffy and face danger as severe as anything they've watched on TV.

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buffy the vampire slayer

There is a strong comparison to the heroes in the fictional world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the characters in the world of The New Mutants. Buffy never asks to be the Slayer, but she realizes she has no choice and fights to save those she loves, just like Dani. Likewise, the relationship she shares with Rahne is similar to the one between Willow and Tara.

The heroes of The New Mutants are not doppelgangers of the Scooby Gang, but they share a substantial similarity when it comes to why they fight together and the bond they share. Boone may have wanted to make his own Scooby Gang, and The New Mutants gave him a great chance to live out that dream, with mutants standing in for the vampire slayers of Sunnydale.

Directed and co-written by Josh Boone, The New Mutants stars Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage and Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes. The film is now in theaters. 

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