FXMutants are coming to TV. Legion, FX's new Marvel Television based on the X-Men comics character David Haller, the mutant son of X-Men founder Professor Charles Xavier, has been ordered to series.
Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame, Designing Women and Fargo veteran Jean Smart, Fargo's Rachel Keller and Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza star alongside Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder, Katie Aselton and Bill Irwin.
According to FX, Stevens plays David Haller, a young man who has been dealing with mental illness. He's been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and bounced around psychiatric hospitals for years. However, a strange encounter with another patient makes David realize the voices he hears in his head and the visions he sees might be real. In the comics, each of David's personas controls different powers.
The 8-episode first season will debut on FX in early 2017. FX Productions is co-producing with Marvel Television. Fargo's Noah Hawley is behind the drama series.
"We've come to expect excellence from Noah Hawley and with Legion he has delivered another major creative achievement," Nick Grad, president of original programming at FX Networks and FX Productions said in a statement. "Just as he did in reimagining Fargo, he is bringing an entirely new aesthetic and sensibility to the enormously popular and richly represented X-Men world. The pilot episode is stunning, driven by incredible performances from Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Rachel Keller and the rest of the cast. We join our producing partners at Marvel in congratulating the creative team for what they've accomplished and are as excited as the fans for the premiere of Legion's first season."
Hawley, Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory and John Cameraon serve as executive producers.
"Marvel Television is thrilled to not only have our first partnership with FX go to series, but working with the enormously talented Noah Hawley makes it even better," Loeb said in a statement. "From the first time we heard Noah's vision to his exceptional script and cast through the extraordinary filming of the pilot, we knew the series would be incredible."