Having left X-Men fans speechless — first in anticipation, then in awe — with his sci-fi colored debut in the comic book genre, Legion creator Noah Hawley looks set to get even busier.
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When Legion began making waves from FX barely two months ago, fans lacked the language to describe it in even the most basic ways. Advance teases had promised a creation that defied all prior comic book adaptations but gave away no detail. A stunning turn away from recent X-Men cinematic leanings, Legion has outpaced the deafening buzz of anticipation that follows Hawley, its seasoned showrunner.
He said, quite simply, the the goal was to up the ante with every episode.
“I wanted to offer the audience something every week that would blow their minds a little bit,” Hawley said.
Also a bestselling author and the deeply-versed creator of FX’s rabidly acclaimed Fargo, Hawley was pursued by the X-Men braintrust as their only choice to bring the bold, uniquely crafted vision required to do the beloved mythology justice.
Hawley credits the pure imagination and creativity possible when telling a comic and science fiction story — in whatever medium — for allowing Legion to be truly singular.
“The genre allows you a really dynamic place to explore big concepts,” he said. “You think of Philip K. Dick or the work of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore. These aren’t just people who are interested in writing a classic story of [pure] good versus evil.”
Hawley’s passion for his influencers shines plainly through his work. Legion‘s first hour alone plants flag-waving monuments to Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, and other artists and thinkers across forms.
Writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz are also credited by Hawley and the series for creating David Haller (first appearing in Marvel comics in 1985), whose askew place and interaction with the X-Men heroes made him the clear choice to sail these uncharted waters.
“I just tried to leave myself open to wild swings of imagination. Never for their own benefit, but also to try to enhance the subjective storytelling — and then to try to execute them as practically as possible,” Hawley said.
Taking a so-called dream logic and warping it beyond easy identification, Legion‘s DNA allows it to cross typical narrative barriers and spin an eternal, non-linear universe akin to worshipped properties such as Neil Gaiman’s Sandman or the revitalized Battlestar Galactica, which Hawley also cites as an inspiration for Legion‘s scope.
Though Hawley is also preparing a big splash into feature filmmaking with original creations, television is central to the ethos of Legion.
“What a television show offers compared to a feature film is time — the ability to tell a longer story, and by definition an episodic story, where each episode obviously is part of a larger story but has its own internal structure,” Hawley said to ComicBook. “Therefore you can be innovative from episode to episode in what the identity of each episode is and how it’s telling the story.
“It’s also a character medium. In a TV show you can service a real ensemble, which allows you to shift points of view… in a movie you would probably stick with David’s point of view. But on the show we can tell some episodes from Syd’s point of view and we can also look at the other characters.”
The format of an ongoing television series allows Legion to take its time unveiling meaning from varying perspectives. The same freedom has always been integral to the identity of great comic book creations, from the vast X-Men universe to limited series like Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins’ Watchmen — which retooled the basic panel layout, stories-within-stories, fact crossed with fiction, inkblot tests, and lyrical symbolism within the superhero genre to tell a philosophical tale about humanity’s place in the universe.
“(The purpose for Legion) goes to some degree to the opening of episode four where Oliver talks about empathy and fear,” Hawley said. “TV is a great empathy creation device for multiple characters that allows you to really play with structure and create something original, I hope.”
With new possibilities offered in 2017 and beyond, sacred texts like Gaiman’s Sandman comics or legendary films like Blade Runner (adapted from Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) are being revitalized to tell abstract and challenging stories combined with the spellbinding power available to visionary filmmakers working with characters and ideologies that fans have swarmed to for decades.
“If you have a character who can make objects move with his mind, it’s better to see those objects moving,” Hawley said. “It’s better, if you’re gonna have a kitchen flying apart, that you composite [multiple] takes, one with the character in it and one with everything blowing out of the cabinet, but you do it at high speed…. You can shift how fast each of the elements is moving.
“Your eye can tell the difference between something where all the elements are real and something that’s computer-generated.”
Hawley’s creation along with directing (the first chapter) and writing (penning the first, second, and eighth chapters) have X-Men devotees wondering if the franchise’s on-screen travels have a new wind at their back.
Returning next year with new settings and no shortage of intrigue remaining in David Haller’s life before or after his stay in Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital, Legion‘s first eight chapters will keep fans starry-eyed during the cruel summer.
— Zach Ellin has provided coverage Legion coverage for ComicBook.com throughout the entire season of the show. Follow him on Twitter for more of his insights.
OTHER LEGION STARS TALK TO COMICBOOK: Dan Stevens Talks Season One | Michael Uppendahl Discusses Season Finale | Jean Smart Owns The Screen As Dr. Bird | Bill Irwin Credits Hawley for Legion-Marvel Marriage
