Marvel is continuing to branch out on television, and one of its upcoming destinations is basic cable, as FX prepares to air Legion. The trailer for the new series just debuted at Comic-Con, and it looks like all kinds if weird... in a good way.
The above trailer debuted at Comic-Con during the Cup O' Joe panel with Marvel COO Joe Quesada. Marvel Television and FX are co-producing Legion, which comes to us from Fargo's Noah Hawley. All of the ingredients to this project add up to something very promising, and the trailer is even more indication that we should expect something unlike every other show Marvel has on the air.
FX is known for going dark and gritty with things, and anyone who's seen Fargo knows Noah Hawley knows how to unfold a story. From the above trailer, this show looks like Fight Club meets Mr. Robot meets The Matrix meets I-don't-know-what... with a musical dance break.
Legion centered on David Haller, a man who's spent a long time in psychiatric hospitals, believed to be schizophrenic. He's got voices in his head, but they may very well turn out to be the real deal.
If the word "mutant" jumped out at you, you're not wrong to think of X-Men, as this story is set in that corner of the Marvel universe. Though you probably shouldn't get your hopes up that we'll be seeing Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in this series anytime soon. Noah Hawley has already said that the series is set up as more of a standalone drama. And FX's John Landgraf shot down thoughts of a crossover between the films and the TV show by saying that this series doesn't fit the continuity of the X-Men movies. He described Legion as being set in a parallel universe where the government knows mutants exist, but the public doesn't.
With that aspect of the plot in mind, and factoring in how fragile the X-Men movies' continuity already is, what with time travel and alternate realities twisting things up, It would be very tricky to try to work in a character from the movies and make it work.
And that's just fine. If Legion is a good series it won't need X-Men movie cameos to support it. Besides, there's more to the X-Men movies than what's been featured in the films, which leaves this show plenty to work with.
Legion stars Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Jean Smart, Katie Aselton, Jeremie Harris, and Amber Midthunder. Bill Irwin and Aubrey Plaza are also expected to appear.
FX is planning to get Legion on the air sometime in early 2017.
