X-Men Producer Discusses Possibility of More X-Men TV Shows

01/17/2017 08:45 am EST

The enigmatic TV spots for FX's upcoming new midseason offering, Legion, may have gotten a lot of viewers' attention, but how many of those same viewers truly understand whether or not the show is a spinoff of the X-Men movie brand?

To help build that brand connection before Legion's February premiere, FX has been doing the promotional rounds in the press, dropping more details about the show, its (non)-connection to the X-Men movies - and now, about whether or not this is just a starting point for a larger X-Men TV universe.

IGN recently spoke to X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner about the possibility of a bigger X-Men TV universe after Legion, and the recently announced X-Men movie TV spinoff series have both aired. According to Donner's response, it sounds like Legion is basically the prototype that will test the waters for X-Men TV - but the focus is still the X-Men movies for now.

When asked specifically if there are other X-Men characters that Fox had in mind as candidates for TV series, Donner told IGN, "It depends. The feature side comes first, unfortunately, because it's established. They're our characters, so they come first, and as we decide feature world where we're going, there are certain characters we know we won't get into -- or if we do get into, it's OK to have them have an appearance." That basically translates to characters getting feature considerations first and foremost - and then, any leftovers being potentially used for TV series.

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Legion is the story of a troubled young man who may be more than human. It introduces the story of David Haller, who since he was a teenager, has struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he's confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real.

Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Rachel Keller (Fargo), Jean Smart (Fargo), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Jeremie Harris (A Walk Among the Tombstones), Amber Midthunder (Hell or High Water), Katie Aselton (The League) and Bill Irwin (Interstellar) star in Legion.

Noah Hawley (Fargo) will serve as an Executive Producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool), Bryan Singer (X-Men: Apocalypse, Superman Returns), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian), Jeph Loeb (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Daredevil, Marvel's Jessica Jones), Jim Chory (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Daredevil, Marvel's Jessica Jones) and John Cameron (Fargo, The Big Lebowski). Legion is the latest project from Hawley and Cameron, two of the Executive Producers of the Emmy and Golden Globe -winning FX limited series Fargo.

Legion premieres on Feb. 8, 2017, at 10 p.m. ET on FX.