With a firm grip on Netflix and ABC, Marvel is now taking their television imprint to FX with "Legion." The project was first announced last fall, with "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley writing and executive producing the series. Now the show has landed some interesting talent for the lead cast.
Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey," "The Guest"), Aubrey Plaza ("Parks & Recreation"), Jean Smart, and Rachel Keller will star in the show that is only described as "the story of a troubled young man." Aren’t they all in these comics based shows? Here are the character breakdowns:
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DAVID (Dan Stevens) – Diagnosed as schizophrenic at a young age, David is a haunted man, trying to find his way back to sanity, but he’s getting tired and is about to give up when he meets the girl of his dreams.
LENNY (Aubrey Plaza) – David’s friend, who despite a life of drugs and alcohol abuse, knows that any day now her life is gonna turn around, which gives Lenny the likeable energy of the impossible optimist despite her rough demeanor.
MELANIE (Jean Smart) – A nurturing, demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods.
SYD (Rachel Keller) – Self-sufficient and street smart, Syd uses her sharp and prickly demeanor to protect her soft core, because even though it makes her a sucker and puts her at risk, she still believes in happily ever after.
Geez, Marvel is really sticking with the gritty tone they’ve got going at Netflix, huh? The most interesting part of this deal is that the show is at FX, owned by Fox, which one presumes means they can use the word "mutant." I’m also going to guess this is Marvel’s way of stepping a bit closer to "X-Men," the rights of which still belong to Fox, without making a full blown "X-Men" series (which Fox really wants to do). It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, and if "Legion" will connect to the cinematic "X-Men" universe (my guess is that it won’t).
"Legion" starts production in March.