X-Men Legend Chris Claremont Praises 'Legion'

More than thirty years after he was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz, David Haller -- the Marvel mutant known as Legion -- made his live-action debut in the pilot of his self-titled TV series last year.

With a trailer for season two finally online and a documentary coming up from XLrator about Claremont's pervasive influence on the X-Men family of comics and films, Claremont told ComicBook.com that he loves what showrunner Noah Hawley managed to do with the character.

"Legion is totally what Bill and I had in mind, both conceptually and miraculously the visual of the character and the story itself," Claremont said during an interview in support of Chris Claremont's X-Men, coming to video-on-demand services on February 6.

Claremont was more generally critical of the direction comics and the films based on them have gone in recent years, suggesting that exploitation of existing properties has taken priority over creating new content, and that as a result publishers and studios are doing a lot of things that feel repetitive.

Legion, then, stands out not just because Claremont likes it but because implicit in that praise is the idea that the show is doing something different.

The series, along with Riverdale, brought a much-needed change of pace visually to comic book TV in 2017, and Legion's narrative eccentricities made it a critical darling, while its larger-than-life characters and great performances assured that it would connect with fans.

There are a lot of questions viewers have after Legion's epic finale, and there are likely to be many more when the show returns to FX. After all, that is a show like Legion's bread and butter. But it isn't so much as a mystery as much as it's forcing you to question your own sanity, much like David Haller himself.

Legion was an impressive first foray into the X-Men universe being adapted for television, proving Noah Hawley to be one of the most talented showrunners working today. Between Fargo and this, FX is likely to keep him around as they enter a new era under Walt Disney Studios.

Legion returns for Season Two in April on FX.