Legion Season 2 Won't Rely On Comics For New Storylines

The X-Men franchise seems to have entered a renaissance as of late. The mutant’s cinematic has [...]

By Megan Peters - March 27, 2017 09:39 pm EDT

The X-Men franchise seems to have entered a renaissance as of late. The mutant's cinematic has found itself floundering for sometime despite efforts to reboot it for new audiences. However, 20th Century Fox managed to breathe new life into the franchise with feature like Logan and Deadpool - and that's not to even mention its shows.

This year, FX debuted a new kind of superhero series with Legion. The mind-bending show eschewed tired superpower tropes for subtle thrills, and fans have been hooked. This week, Legion will wrap up its first season, but plans are already underway for another. So, if you are wondering how Legion may shake things up for its second season, then you can stop asking whether the show will abide by its comic predecessors more closely.

According to executive producer Noah Hawley, the show has no plans to do so. The higher-up took time to talk about Legion's future with sites such as CBR ahead of its finale. It was there that Hawley was questioned over whether Legion's current comic-compliant storylines hinted at a closer connection overall. And, as expected, the producer shut down those assumptions.

"I think as we do with Fargo, I think fans who are really familiar with the at world, they really appreciate certain connections and a sense of being rewarded for knowing the stories so well," Hawley explained.

"But at the same time, my goal was always to sort of use this character as a way to have a conversation and tell a story that was my story, that was interesting to me, and to try to get at the heart of what this character is and [what] this journey is for him, not literally sort of reenacting issues of the comic book, or storylines from the comic book."

Continuing, the producer stressed, "I don't think you'll see the show suddenly look to the comics for storylines but you may see ideas or characters or images that are familiar to you."

Of course, fans have had reason to wonder whether Legion was moving more towards the X-Men comics. The show recently dropped a few bombs on viewers when characters like Charles Xavier and Shadow King were referenced. The X-Men leader was confirmed to be the biological father of David Haller. As for the Shadow King, audiences learned the parasitic psychic had been following the lead for years, tormenting him and making it appear as if he were insane. These elements are all drawn from the Marvel Universe, so fans were wondering if the streak would continue.

For now, it looks like continuity is not the focus of Legion. Fans may have to leave that kind of adherence to Fox's upcoming X-Men show.

A haunted man, David escapes from the hospital and seeks shelter with his sister Amy (Katie Aselton). But Amy's concern for her brother is trumped by her desire to protect the picture-perfect suburban life she's built for herself. Eventually, Syd guides David to Melanie Bird (Jean Smart), a nurturing but demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods. She and her team of specialists – Ptonomy (Jeremie Harris), Kerry (Amber Midthunder) and Cary (Bill Irwin) – open David's eyes to an extraordinary new world of possibilities.

Hawley serves as Executive Producer, along with Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory and John Cameron. 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.