The superhero genre has taken showbiz by storm in recent years, and Marvel has a new project in the works that should give viewers a superhero show unlike anything else on TV. Fox is moving forward on a Marvel drama set in the world of the X-Men, and we learned earlier this week that True Blood's Stephen Moyer landed the role of leading man. Now, we know who our leading lady will be on the new show, and she's none other than Person of Interest's Amy Acker.
Amy Acker will play Kate Stewart, who is a mother working her hardest to deal with her separation from her husband Reed (Stephen Moyer) and her troublesome teenagers. When Kate and Reed discover that their kids possess mutant powers, the entire family must reconcile enough to go on the run together. The government is hostile to mutants, and Kate has to work with her husband to protect their kids from people who would do them harm. Luckily for them all, Kate will find herself stronger than even she knew, and she'll rise to the occasion as best she can. When the family runs into an underground network of mutants, we can bet that they'll need all the strength Kate can muster.
Kate is only the latest of the characters to have been cast for the X-Men project. In addition to Amy Acker and Stephen Moyer, THR reports that Fox has landed Satisfaction's Blair Redford as the leader of the mutant network, Gotham's Jamie Chung as Clarice Fong, The Goldbergs' Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Stewart, and Incorporated's Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz. The cast of characters may be somewhat disappointing to any who were hoping that the Fox show would involve the biggest names from the X-Men film franchise, but the original and relatively obscure characters should allow it to stand on its own without inviting comparisons to the big-budget blockbusters.
That said, creator Matt Nix has confirmed that the show will take place in the same universe as the films, so we may hear about events of the movies and perhaps even see a familiar face or two if all goes well. We'll have to wait and see. At the very least, the pilot will probably be filmed somewhat similarly to the movies. Legendary X-Men film director Bryan Singer is slated to direct Amy Acker and the rest in the pilot.
Amy Acker is a veteran of a variety of genre series, ranging from Angel to Alias to Dollhouse. She's best known for her role in Person of Interest, where she played Samantha Groves, a.k.a. Root during its five seasons on CBS. Kate Stewart will be her second character on a Marvel project; she played the cellist Audrey Nathan in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1. Interestingly, Acker also had a role in a D.C. Comics series. She voiced Helena Bertinelli in several episodes of Justice League Unlimited. It should be fun to see her as one of the normal folks in a show full of mutants on Fox.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere schedule.
