The upcoming FX series Legion, set to premiere in 2017, had a special New York Comic Con panel today with cast and producers in attendance. As a bonus, the first 20 minutes of the show’s pilot were shown to positive reactions. Actors Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder and Katie Aselton were joined by Head of Marvel Television and series executive producer Jeph Loeb, executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner and showrunner Noah Hawley.
During a Q&A that followed, the connection to Professor Charles Xavier, who is Legion’s father in the comic books, was hinted. “There’s a wheelchair in the first scene,” Dan Stevens, who plays Daniel Haller, hinted. “I don’t think you can tell that story without that element to it, so I will say you probably will [see a reference to that connection],” Noah Hawley said.
Will there be any direct appearances by characters from the X-Men films. “Probably not,” Lauren Shuler Donner said. “Wouldn’t that be great,” Jeph Loeb added. Hawley had a longer and more detailed answer. “What I enjoyed with Fargo is, for the first three hours, it felt completely unconnected to the movie. We’ve got to earn the right to connect to the movie. I also know there are different waters to swim in. All I can do, all I can control, is the show,” he said.
And might there be any connections to the greater world of Marvel TV? “X-Men characters live in the Fox world, and we live in a different world,” Jeph Loeb said. “The fact that I’m sitting here is an indication of bridges that are being made, and people like Lauren who are facilitating that and making that happen.”
Continuing, it seems Loeb has revised his “it’s all connected” mantra to describe a feeling rather than an overt physical connection. “Marvel characters, at their core, are people who are damaged, and trying to figure out where they are in life. That’s where it starts. We’re much more interested in the person that’s inside the mask as opposed to the mask and the cape and all the other things that go along with it. If you start at a place that’s as strong as David Haller’s character, then that’s Marvel. I’d say in that way, it is all connected. We just want something that has truth to it. If what you just watched feels like Marvel, then it is all connected, and that’s what matters.”
Legion premieres in 2017 on FX. You can read more highlights from the NYCC panel at CBR.
