Marvel and Fox might have some clear definitions regarding the appearances of characters on the big screen, but it seems that is a different story for television. The television rights for the X-Men have been an issue between the companies for years, which Vulture notes is likely the reason why no spin-off series has been attempted up to this point. Now it would seem that something has given way, and Fox is bringing some X-Men-related series to the small screen.
Don’t expect to see Wolverine ripping people apart with his claws or the tales of a young Storm learning to use her powers. Instead, we’re getting off into total side-story territory (and possibly away from the film universe entirely). Fox announced the news via press release, and Vulture provided some extra tidbits:
The first series is Legion, which received a pilot order by FX Networks (owned by Fox). It’ll follow the trials and tribulations of a possibly super-powered young man named David Haller, who, in Marvel’s comics tales, is the ultra-powerful son of Professor X. In the show, he’s apparently been diagnosed as a schizophrenic, 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…”
The second series is in development, but its working title is Hellfire. 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,” according to a press release from Fox.
Now as most fans know, Legion is the character who eventually travels back in time to kill Magneto to help out his father and eventually ends up killing him instead, sparking the entire Age of Apocalypse storyline. I can’t see where Fox would even attempt such a thing, but who knows. Maybe this is all part of their plan for a bigger push in the future. Cooler heads would say it is just going to keep a separate route away from anything X-Men-related, but we’ll see.
As for The Hellfire Club series, we did see them in X-Men: First Class and this could be some sort of connected tale. Or maybe it’s a copy cat group that was born from the idea of the original Hellfire Club, led by the offspring of some of the original members we’ve met.
For my money, I hope it’s an adaptation of Murder in the Hellfire Club. The cover alone makes me weep with joy.
(Via Vulture)