'The Gifted' Season 2 Features Classic X-Men Villains the Purifiers

X-Men fans can expect to see a classic villain group, the Purifiers, in the second season of Marvel and Fox's The Gifted.

The Purifiers came up while the cast of The Gifted was discussing with Entertainment Weekly the new factions and the wider world of the X-Men that will be a part of the FOX series' sophomore season.

"We've actually just opened up the world because we've got the Purifiers as well," star Sean Teale, who plays Marcos "Eclipse" Diaz explained. "The Purifiers are a mutant hate group. I don't know what parallels we can compare that to in modern day times. If only we had an idea. They're tiki torch carrying mutant haters."

The Purifiers did play a small role in the first season of The Gifted. A flashback scene showed a gang of Purifiers harassing Clarice "Blink" Fong (Jamie Chung). The Purifiers' larger role in the show's future was teased in the season finale when the name Madeline Risman was mentioned. The name is similar to that of Matthew Risman, a Purifier leader in the Marvel Comics universe. The Gifted creator and showrunner Matt Nix discussed that role during an interview with ComicBook.com in January.

"Obviously, there are a lot of conversations to be had with the networks, studios, producers and things like that, so I'm hesitant a few days from a renewal to promise specific things, but I will say we did not drop the name 'Madeline Risman' into the show by accident," Nix said. "One of the things I can say about the Purifiers is they're just regular people a lot of them. It's a thing that can exist everywhere. It's not the Sentinel Services. It's not a place that, I mean, it might have a headquarters, but you can work at a supermarket and be a Purifier. That's a really interesting avenue, I think, to explore so that the show is not simply an endless battle between the Sentinel Services and the Underground.

"That's part of the reason we wanted to blow up the headquarters at the end of the season, and get Jace out of the Sentinel Services at the end of the season was to send the message. We're not just going to do the same thing over and over. It's not just going to be like, 'And this year the Sentinel Services has another kind of thing. And then they're going to go after a different headquarters,' because that could get old real fast. So, what I love about the Purifiers is that they can be anybody and in a way that's a lot scarier. The Sentinel Services, as scary as they are, you know where they are and they're bound by law. They're bound by at least to some extent by laws, and the need to put people in jail and be called before congressional committees, but you know, Purifiers don't have that same thing. They're just misguided people with the sweatshirts with the crosses on them."

In addition to the Purifiers, The Gifted will also introduce the sewer-dwelling mutant community called the Morlocks in season two. You can get your first taste in The Gifted Season Two the trailer released at San Diego Comic-Con.

Are you excited to see the Purifiers in the second season of The Gifted? Let us know in the comments!

The Gifted returns to FOX for its second season on September 25th.