On TV and the silver screen, the mutant corner of the Marvel mythos has consistently remained at the forefront of live-action superhero adventures. The X-Men films continue to wow audiences, and FX's (recently renewed) Legion has established the type of cerebral places than a mutant-focused TV show can go. With Fox's The Gifted, it looks like the X-Men lore will once again get another intense, serialized adventure, and everyone can now watch the first six minutes of the show's pilot episode, which show quite a bit of promise. Check out the sequence below.
Right off the bat, this clip makes it clear that The Gifted will place a notable premium on solid superhero action. The scene opens with Blink running through the rain in an attempt to flee a group of pursuing police officers. Though she initially struggles to open one of her portals (her trademark ability in the pages of Marvel Comics), she eventually manages to teleport herself out of danger. Finally, she finds herself face to face with fellow mutants Polaris, Thunderbird, and Eclipse. When the cops once again close in on their location, they band together and use their absolutely insane powers to create an escape route -- until Eclipse gets hit by a bullet and Polaris is captured while retaliating in a fit of rage. Drama!
This sequence doesn't give us too much information about the overarching plot of The Gifted, but we can already read about that elsewhere. Thankfully, the promo definitely sets up our heroes quite nicely, and generally provides us with a good sense of tone.
Speaking of tone, one of the most interesting things worth noting about this six-minute clip is how dark it is. In a move reminiscent of the Days of Future Past storyline -- District X has also been cited as a major inspiration -- we see these mutants on the run, evading persecution, and generally trying to stay alive in the face of mankind's fear and prejudice. All things considered, it looks like The Gifted is leaning very heavily into the long-running X-Men trope of prejudice and the overcoming of social and political adversity.
Of course, that doesn't even get into the topic of the show's visuals, which look solid thus far. Live-action X-Men projects have a long history of showing the diverse abilities of the characters who inhabit the stories, and it appears that The Gifted will carry on that tradition. Whether it's Thunderbird's ability to track, Blink's ability to teleport, or Eclipse's ability to fire bursts of light, every character has a role and a talent that can help keep the group alive. For a mutant ensemble, that's an important idea to hammer home early in a show's run.
The Gifted will premiere on Monday, October 2 at 9 p.m. ET on FOX. However, the X-Men TV series isn't the only highly-anticipated show set to debut this fall, so make sure to take a look at CinemaBlend's comprehensive fall TV premiere guide for more updates on all of the biggest and best series set to debut over the next few months!
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