Intriguing New Details on the Upcoming X-Men TV Series LEGION
Thanks to FX Networks and FX Productions CEO John Landgraf, we’ve learned some new information on the upcoming X-Men inspired series Legion. The series is being developed by Fargo series creator Noah Hawley, and it has officially been picked by the cable network.
Turns out the series is moving forward pretty quickly — it will premiere later this year! Talking to the Television Critics Association, Landgraf said:
“We’re quite well along. We have a writing staff working. We’ve seen not only the pilot script but many episodes. I would anticipate Legion will go on the air sometime in 2016, this year.”
/Film managed to get some additional details on the series, including the fact that the creative team is looking to bring in characters that have not been introduced in the movies. He also added that the series will not take place in the same universe as the films, and they will not cross over with each other. He explains that Legion actually takes place in a parallel universe.
“It’s not in the continuity of those films in the sense that the current X-Men films take place in a universe where everybody on planet earth is aware of the existence of mutants. Legion takes place in a parallel universe if you will where the government is aware mutants exist but the public is not. I wouldn’t see characters moving back and forth because they really are parallel universes.”
Landgraf goes on to say that the first season will most likely end up being ten episodes, but though they have yet to commit to a full season, it seems like they’re moving forward like it will happen. He explains a little bit haw the process works in developing a project like this:
“We don’t tend to order series straight out the gate. I still believe in the pilot process. We’re already in active prep, building sets and our writers room has already been assembled and beaten out the first season. Generally when we have a pilot we’ll commission at least three or four scripts. I think we’ve only made five drama pilots that haven’t gone to series. The vast majority of things we pilot do go forward to series but there are times we run into creative problems or production problems. I’m pretty optimistic about Legion I have to say. The scripts are extraordinary.”
According to our initial report on the series, we learned that it will give us a story that revolves around David Haller. “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."
Fox is also developing a second X-Men series called Hellfire Club. This series is being developed by Evan Katz (24: Live Another Day), Manny Coto (24), Patrick McKay (Star Trek 3), and JD Payne (Star Trek 3). It is set in the late 1960s, and it "follows a young Special Agent who learns that a power-hungry woman with extraordinary abilities is working with a clandestine society of millionaires – known as 'The Hellfire Club' – to take over the world."
I’m excited for both of these. They seem like series X-Men fans are going to enjoy.