Last week,Marvelannounced two newTV showsthat have roots in theX-Mencomics, FX’sLegionand Fox’sHellfire. Surprisingly, the official announcements did not make any reference toX-Men, even though both shows will be produced byBryan Singer,Simon KinbergandLauren Shuler Donner, who have spearheaded the beloved mutant movie franchise.TV Insidercaught up withLegionseries creatorNoah Hawley, who confirmed that his show will not be immediately connected to the beloved movie universe.
“It’s conceived more as a standalone. I don’t want to say too much more about it on that level, but certainly it’s not constructed as a back-door anything. It’s more just that there’s a story that I want to explore that has to fit into that larger universe, which is exciting. It’s interesting; I do think that the show needs to stand on its own two feet. The people who care that it’s anX-Mentitle are going to know it’s anX-Mentitle. You’re looking for the largest possible and most diverse audience, so that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is the show itself.”
Legiontells the story of a troubled young man who may be more than human. The pilot introduces the story of David Haller. Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed asschizophrenic, 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. When asked about what drew him to this character,Noah Hawleyhad this to say.
“What I really like about him is, here’s a character who is schizophrenic on some level, a character struggling with mental illness. Is he crazy or does he have these powers? The answer is, kind of both. I’m a big believer that the structure of a story should reflect the content of the story. And so I liked the idea that if you have a character that doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not real, that is also the audience’s journey.”
Noah Hawleyrevealed that they plan on shooting the pilot in either January or February of next year. Since bothLegionandHellfirewere announced at the same time, many fans were wondering whether these programs will eventually cross over. When asked if there will be any crossover between FX’sLegionand Fox’sHellfire, the writer/producer revealed there are no plans in the works yet.
“We certainly haven’t had any conversations about crossovers. I don’t know anything about it, but I think that one is more linearly taken out of the world of the movies. Ours has its own world to it.”
Noah Hawley(Fargo,Bones) will write the pilot and serve as an Executive Producer along withLauren Shuler Donner(X-Men: Days of Future Past,The Wolverine),Bryan Singer(X-Men: Days of Future Past,Superman Returns),Simon Kinberg(X-Men: Days of Future Past,The Martian),Jeph Loeb(Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,Marvel’s Daredevil), James Chory (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,Marvel’s Daredevil) and John Cameron (Fargo,The Big Lebowski). What do you think about these new details? Are you disappointed thatLegionwon’t connect to theX-Menmovie universe?
