In spite of mixed reviews for the latest X-Men Apocalypse movie, the franchise is still riding the coattails of superhero movie boom. We have previously reported on how a new X-men show known as Legion is going to take the X-Men franchise in a different direction, as it will branch off from it. This is everything that is known about a new X-Men show known as Legion, with its release date, cast, news, and story.
CNET reports that not only will this new Marvel television series not take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the one that The Avengers and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes place in), but it will probably not even take place in the same universe that the X-Men films take place in. Granted, that particular franchise was very much shaken up after X-Men: Days of Future Past time-travel plot altered the timeline of the first three movies, but, according to CinemaBlend, the show looks to take a different direction.
In the comic book source material, Legion was a character introduced in The New Mutants, a spin-off book from X-Men. He is the son of Charles Xavier (the character that James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart play in the film), and he has powers. He also has unique case of Dissociative Identity Disorder, where each of his different personalities has a different mutant power.
The show's imdb page has some veteran actors such as Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, and Rachel Keller. None of the characters sound familiar to those who know X-Men comics and films, except for David Haller, played by Stevens.
The trailer reveals that the show is made by the same names that made Fargo, and it looks like Legion will go in a very artistic and possibly weird direction, I meant the trailer has a Bollywood number, for crying out loud. Speaking of a different direction, the entire X-Men universe on the Legion show is going to be different, as it sounds like the existence of mutants will only be known to the government as well as the mutants themselves.
Therefore, Legion takes place in some kind of alternate universe where perhaps the X-men characters will make an appearance, but they won't be any relation to the ones from the movies. I'm not certain if FX can get the rights to X-Men characters, but at least it will make sense that they will be played by different actors.
It should be an interesting to see how the Legion series plays out, and the full eight-episode season will begin shooting this summer in Canada. It looks like FX plans for an early 2017 release date for a mid-season show that could easily get a second season with the X-Men fanbase.
