The X-Men are coming to TV…although technically, the mutant in question has never officially been on the team!
FX has announced that Legion will begin filming its eight-episode first season this summer for an early 2017 premiere. If you’ve never heard of Legion, don’t worry. He’s relatively unknown outside of comic book fans, but this show should change that pretty quickly, Former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens is playing the title character, David Haller. He’s the son of Professor X and potentially the most powerful mutant in the world. But that power comes with the price of multiple personalities, each of which have powers of their own.
Here’s FX’s description of the series, which noticeably leaves out Haller’s direct connection to the X-Men.
“Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real.”
Related: Would Giving The X-Men Back To Marvel Be More Trouble Than It’s Worth?
“We’ve come to expect excellence from Noah Hawley and with Legion he has delivered another major creative achievement,” said FX’s Nick Grad in a statement. “Just as he did in reimagining Fargo, he is bringing an entirely new aesthetic and sensibility to the enormously popular and richly represented X-Men world. The pilot episode is stunning, driven by incredible performances from Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Rachel Keller and the rest of the cast. We join our producing partners at Marvel in congratulating the creative team for what they’ve accomplished and are as excited as the fans for the premiere of Legion’s first season.”
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