NEW YORK, NY -- Today I got to sit in the historic Hammerstein Ballroom, home of many a vintage ECW show, to witness the world premiere of FX’s LEGION. I expected clips, I expected trailers, but when they announced we’d be seeing the first episode the crowd went wild. Now as it turns out it was only the first half of the first episode, so they could also do a Q&A, but still, what a treat.
To my eternal shame, I have not watched the FARGO TV series. I have been told that I must and that LEGION is being crafted by its showrunner Noah Hawley was a good sign. I watch a lot of super hero shows. I think I watch them all, from both sides of the aisle, Marvel and DC. I was reluctant to start another and seeing as the last X-Men movie left me cold, I was prepared to give LEGION a miss. Forgive me Lord, for I was blind but now I see.
LEGION, or what we saw of the pilot, is masterful. In my ignorance, I didn’t realise LEGION was going to follow the short-form series model of FARGO, only being eight episodes in its first season – though I’m sure that’ll extend to 12 episodes if it’s successful. From production value, to cinematography, LEGION is better than anything produced by ABC or The CW. It’s more akin to Marvel's Netflix series' except that in itself is not entirely accurate. When watching all I could think of was “Does this remind me of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE or does it remind of what I think A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is like?” Moderator Tim Stack's, from Entertainment Weekly, first question to Hawley was to comment on the “Kubrick feel” to LEGION so I know I wasn’t the only one.
The pilot opens with a montage of the character David Haller growing into adulthood, the many trials and tribulations that shaped him being briefly touched upon, including his mental health problems and his manifesting powers. Brilliantly, the line is blurred so we can never be too sure which it is. After an incident lands him in the “Clockwork's” Psychiatric Hospital (you see what they did there?) the story proper begins as Haller encounters people within the mental health facility. Landing somewhere between ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Haller, played by Dan Stevens, meets the mysterious Syd Barrett, played by Rachel Keller, a woman who seeks intimacy with Haller but never, ever wants to be touched. There are some real sweet moments where you see how they get around this. Aubrey Plaza is perfect as Lenny Busker, Haller’s crazy, irreverent fellow patient. Something that stuck me was how funny the show was. It really had that ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST charm to it. Then the show took a slight weird turn when it’s revealed that we’re looking at a flashback within a flashback. Haller is being interviewed about something that happened at the hospital, which flashes back to Haller being interviewed by the hospital’s Doctor, which in turn flashes back to previous events in Haller’s life, all the while alluding to an incident that wasn’t revealed, at least in the first half of the pilot we saw. It's this kind of writing, this layered storytelling, mixed with the subjective point-of-view (POV) as we see the world through Haller’s eyes that immediately elevates this above most comic book TV shows. If this any indication of what Noah Hawley has done before on FARGO, than I know now what a fool I’ve been.
The pilot preview ended with another revelation, peeling back yet another layer, showing this world and this show has a lot more depth to it than almost anything out there.
During the Q&A a fan tried to get a definitive answer from Hawley as to whether or not LEGION took place in the same world as the X-Men movies. Hawley responded cagily that due to the show being shot from the hitherto mentioned subjective POV of Haller, the lines could be blurred as to what’s going on in this world but when pressed about Haller’s “lineage,” Hawley straight up said, “We are true to the origins of the character.” Dan Stevens even went on to point out there is a wheelchair shown in the first shot, wink-wink.
When touching upon the aesthetic of the show, Noah Hawley pointed out the use of Kubrickesque quasi-retro but also semi-futuristic design and settings was also to try and blur those lines as to when LEGION was set, inspired as he was by the latest X-Men films being 20th century period pieces. This lead the soundtrack being heavily inspired by Pink Floyd’s 'Dark Side of the Moon,' too.
The cast gave a little bit on their characters but in truth they couldn’t talk about much without giving stuff away. Some of them didn’t even appear in the pilot at all and seeing as they didn’t even want to spoil anything in the pilot’s second half, lips were appropriately sealed.
When asked by a fan if this new working relationship between Fox and Marvel could lead to crossover’s in the future, the head of Marvel TV simply said that his presence represented a bridge being built between these worlds and as far as he is concerned, all things Marvel are all connected by Marvel’s fans and their love for the characters – but to not expect any direct crossovers just yet.
FX’s LEGION premieres early 2017, date T.B.D. And I will be watching.
Written by Nick Whitney, on location at NYCC 2016 -- Click here to read Nick's posts
— Nick Whitney @ NYCC (@whitniverse) October 9, 2016
Well, first half of the pilot…— Nick Whitney @ NYCC (@whitniverse) October 9, 2016
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