This What to Watch Wednesday, we return to what is (at least on the surface) familiar setting for film and television fans—the Marvel Universe.
I know many out there are probably shaking their heads at “yet another superhero story.” And I can’t say I blame you. It does seem we are likely fast approaching over-saturation in this particular genre. But I implore you to bear with me just for a moment.
It’s true, reimagining the superhero is nothing new. This current wave is nearly entirely riding on the power of the b-list stories (apologies Iron Man, but it’s true). So, the surface-level concept here is nothing new. At first glance, you may not even recognize the universe of “Legion.”
I’ll go ahead and rip the spoiler band-aid off for you right here (although it’s right in the show’s logo and all over the Internet). “Legion” is an X-Men story (gasp!), but one that you’ve likely not seen before.
In this mutant story, we see what happens when mutant powers go unidentified (or perhaps inaccurately identified in more accurate) through Legion aka David Haller (Dan Stevens) who is institutionalized after years of increasingly strange incidents.
What makes things really interesting is because we’re seeing things from David’s perspective, a point of view that David himself doesn’t even trust (he literally has to ask if things are real), we’re never quite sure ourselves what’s real and what’s in his head. It made for a fantastic pilot, and I can’t wait to see what they do with that pretense moving forward.
With all of the superhero stories being told on screens of all sizes, it’s hard to find a unique take, especially when you’re borrowing from an already overpopulated universe, but I daresay, I think FX may have found a way.
…bi-daily smile…
