FX casts Professor X’s son in its TV adaptation of ‘Legion’

“Legion,” Marvel television’s pilot for the FX Network about a diagnosed schizophrenic named David who is about to give up on life before he meets his dream girl, has cast Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza and Jean Smart in key roles.

Comic book fans know the connection that character David, who will be played by Stevens, has to the Marvel Universe, specifically to the X-Men (spoiler alert, he’s Professor Xavier’s son).

David, a.k.a. Legion, has within him multiple personalities of various sexes and widely variant temperaments, and each of those personalities possess a superpower: pyrokinesis, telekinesis, telepathy, etc.

It’s unclear what direction the pilot will go in introducing Plaza as Lenny, a friend of David’s who helps pull him out of despair, but without being spoilery, there are some obvious ideas. Smart is cast as David’s therapist, Melanie, and “Fargo’s” Rachel Keller has already been cast as another character named Syd.

“Legion” was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz, and he first appeared in New Mutants No. 25 back in 1985. Though Legion is the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, we can’t be sure if this family connection will be addressed. But many of the past “X-Men” movie creators are involved in this television series, so we’re leaning toward yes. However, the comic exists in an entirely different canon than the current “X-Men” films, so maybe he’s not related to the X-Men at all? Ha-ha-ha, but seriously.

Noah Hawley wrote the pilot and will serve as an executive producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and Jeph Loeb. “Jessica Jones” and “Dardevil” executive producer Jim Chory and John Cameron, who produces “Fargo” with Hawley, round out the executive crew.

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