Comic fans have had plenty of options when it comes to superhero TV shows, and the X-Men will soon be making their own primetime debut. Fox has a drama in the works that will focus on folks who discover mutants powers, and the network has landed the perfect person to direct the first episode. Bryan Singer himself will direct the pilot of the possible new series.
Bryan Singer is best known for his work in the wildly popular X-Men film franchise. He worked as director, producer, and/or writer on X-Men, X2, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse. He is also the executive producer on FX's upcoming Legion, which will exist in the same universe as the X-Men films and potentially feature characters who appeared in the films. As a leading expert in successfully bringing the X-Men to live action, Singer is the perfect person to direct the pilot for Fox.
The potential Fox series is currently untitled, but a few details about the plot have been released. The show will follow the stories of two ordinary parents who discover that their children have distinctly extraordinary abilities. The kids are mutants, and the entire family must go on the run to escape the reach of a government that wants nothing more than to take out the mutant population. The family encounters others with special abilities, and they are drawn into an underground network of mutants that must work together to survive. The plot is something that hasn't exactly been tackled by an X-Men film so far. Bryan Singer should have the ideal vision and expertise to introduce viewers to the world of mutants in the very first episode.
Bryan Singer has actually stepped away from the X-Men movie franchise recently. He signed on to helm a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film that has the potential to take off into a franchise and keep his hands full for the foreseeable future. Still, Singer has said in the past that he doesn't see himself entirely leaving the X-Men behind in his career. Perhaps directing episodes of TV shows featuring X-Men characters will allow him to stay connected to the universe while putting most of his focus on his other big screen ventures.
The new series will feature more than one X-Men fanatic behind the scenes. Executive producer Matt Nix (of Burn Notice fame) is a longtime fan of all things X-Men, and THR reports that he'll be joined by X-Men veterans Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, and Bryan Singer himself as producers. Marvel TV's Jeph Loeb is on board as well.
Fox's X-Men project is still in relatively early stages of development, so we can't say at this point when we can expect the series to hit the airwaves. Check out our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what comic-based TV shows you can watch in the meantime.
