Based on the Marvel Comics by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, Legion is a brand new television series telling the story of David Haller (Dan Stevens); a troubled youngster who will soon discover he may be more than just an everyday human being.
Credit: FX
Diagnosed as a schizophrenic in his years as a child, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years, and viewers will catch up with him in his early 30s after he’s been institutionalised once more. Losing himself within the rhythm of a structured life inside the compound, David is close to chatterbox Lenny (Aubrey Plaza), whose life-long addictions to drugs and alcohol have done nothing to stop her optimism and belief that her luck will change very soon. When a new patient, Syd (Rachel Keller) joins the institute, she and David are immediately drawn to one another. A startling encounter then forces David to confront the voices in his head and come to terms with the fact that they and the visions he sees may actually be real after all.
X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner had previously stated that “We’re our own world”, but things could be changing. Now, it doesn’t seem as if the chance to connect the new show and the movie universe is completely off the table.
Speaking with Variety, writer-showrunner Noah Hawley explained: “I think it’s important for us to establish this as a fully realized world with fully realized characters. It does connect and it can connect, but I’m not relying on that. I have to prove myself. I have to prove that the show is good enough to incorporate those elements from the movie world, if that were ever possible.
“It’s sort of a non-starter to say James McAvoy’s going to be in my show. I’m not saying never, but certainly not in the first year of it. You’d have to pay those guys so much money to begin with. You’d have to pay them movie money in a different medium.”
He added: “With the X-Men comics, there are a lot of alt universes, so that has allowed me some leeway. And obviously it’s a sort of origin story for David [Haller, lead character], but none of the other characters that I’ve surrounded him with are from the comics. It’s sort of an invented world.”
The creator also spoke a little more about the character of David Haller, hinting at what viewers should expect when the new series hits the small screen. He said: “If you have a character whose experience of reality is unusual, that’s the show.
“You shouldn’t look at him from the subjective, normal point of view. But that brings you to a place that’s surreal, which is not something that television does. It might take dramatic risks and tell you antihero stories, but it’s very rare that it does something surreal.”
Legion premieres in the US on February 8, coming to the UK just one day after on FOX at 9pm.
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