At the FX panel at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, FX president John Landgraf discussed the upcoming series based on the ‘X-Men’-based character Legion, a.k.a. David Haller, the illegitimate son of Professor Charles Xavier.  Legion is aptly named as his is a schizophrenic with multiple personalities, each of which possesses a different super power.  Initially it was reported that this show would tie into the existing ‘X-Men’ movie universe, as 20th Century Fox releases those films and owns FX.  ABC which is owned by Disney, who also owns Marvel, currently airs ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ which does connect to the Marvel cinematic universe.

But Landgraf clarified that ‘Legion’ will not connect to the ‘X-Men’ in the same way:

“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. The series Legion takes place takes place in a parallel universe in which the U.S. Government is in the early days of being aware that something called mutants exist, but the public does not. I wouldn’t foresee characters moving back and forth because they really are parallel universes.”

So while ‘Legion’ will remain faithful to the comics in a sense, utilizing the whole mutant concept, the X-Men and other movie/comic characters don’t exist.  At least in the form that viewers have already seen them in live action.  It would still be logical for the producers to at least bring in a few recognizable names and/or faces for comic readers.

Rachel Keller, who appeared on the FX series ‘Fargo’ was recently cast as the show’s female lead.  Keller is reunited with ‘Fargo’ creator Noah Hawley, who is also producing ‘Legion’ and penned the pilot script.  Also producing are Bryan Singer, Lauren Schuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory, John Cameron and Steve Blackman.  Kinberg recently compared ‘Legion’ to the ‘Breaking Bad’ of super hero shows.

As for now, FX has only ordered a pilot.  But Landgraf said that should the show get the greenlight, it would receive a ten-episode order and that he thinks “It might be [set] a few years in the past.”

What do you think?  Is ‘Legion’ intriguing as a stand-alone series, cut-off from the ‘X-Men’ franchise?

Source: Collider