Fargo's Noah Hawley is bringing us mutant drama on FX in February 2017 but will Legion live up to the high standards of X-Men fans?
Mutants in live-action on my television screen sounds great, and Hawley's work on Fargo is nothing short of phenomenal, but all the teasers and trailers so far really make me wonder how this show is going to work.
Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens (soon to be seen as the Beast in Disney's next live-action adaptation), Fargo's Rachel Keller, and Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza are set to star in what is a loose adaptation of Marvel Comic character Legion, aka David Haller, aka son of Professor Charles Xavier.
It's certainly different from anything we've seen so far. Here's the latest promo:
Earlier this year Hawley told us the series would not take place within the X-Men film continuity and even the character's connection to Professor X was up in the air. “It's a little more of a fable in my mind. If you were to say, 'Where is it, and when is it?' It's not exactly clear, I think. And a lot of it is because [David's] not exactly clear,” he said. “It's the world as perceived subjectively on some level. The recent X-Men movies, starting with First Class, are rooted in a time period and a world and playing with history in interesting ways. This isn't doing that.”
Hawley also mentioned the planning for the series started before any of the Marvel Netflix shows premiered saying “this show is a more whimsical and more surreal kind of look at these characters.” He and producer Simon Kinberg spoke about the concept.
“We talked about the character of David Haller, who is Legion, there was this possibility for not knowing what's real. Which is what I found interesting. This was pre-Mr. Robot, even. At this stage, I liked the idea that he was either mentally ill, or had these abilities, or both. I always believe that the structure of a show should reflect the content of a show. So if you have a show about a guy who doesn't know what's real and what's not, the audience should experience that themselves.”
Is all this enough to get you to watch or do you still need convincing?