Check out all of our ongoing coverage of the TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour here. (Not familiar with the TCAs? Read our handy explainer).
During the executive session for the FX TCA panel, FX President John Landgraf talked a little bit about the upcoming Marvel TV series Legion, producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) said recently will be “the Breaking Bad of superhero series.” Legion is being developed by Fargo’s Noah Hawley, and focuses on David Haller, who believes he is schizophrenic, but realizes that the voices he hears might actually be real. Notably, Haller is also the mutant son of X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier (played in the movie universe by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy).
But, Landgraf told reporters today that the TV series will not be crossing over with the cinematic universe in the way that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does with the Avengers. As EW reports,
“It’s not in the continuity of those films, in the sense that the current X-Men films take place in a universe where everybody on planet earth is aware of the existence of mutants. The series Legion takes place takes place in a parallel universe in which the U.S. Government is in the early days of being aware that something called mutants exist, but the public does not. I wouldn’t foresee characters moving back and forth because they really are parallel universes.”
IGN also reported a follow-up to those comments regarding characters, with Landgraf saying, "It’s still in process but I think at the moment they’re all new characters ... But I’m not 100% sure that'll be the case by the time it airs." Further,
As for the time frame of the show, Landgraf revealed, "It might be a few years in the past," while also saying it will be a 10-episode season, should it get the greenlight, like Hawley's Fargo seasons.
So, no, the series has not officially been ordered yet, but it shouldn’t be in doubt — Landgraf said he has seen the pilot and several episodes, and “we’re already in active prep. We’re building sets. Our writers room is already assembled and has already beaten out the first season.” He also expects the series to air late in 2016.
