Please Come and Talk With Me About FX’s Legion Immediately
FX has just launched a new X-Men television series from Fargo’s Noah Hawley. If you watched the premiere of Legion, let’s talk about it.
Spoilers to follow for the premiere episode of FX’s Legion. After these fabulous GIFs.
Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, and Jean Smart star in this new Marvel live-action project that is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. I’m an X-Men fan but not in the long-running comic lore so I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this. In the comics, Legion/David (created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz) is the son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, has dissociative identity disorder, and Omega-level (read: HOLY SHIT) mutant abilities.
The first episode was…wow. I love Fargo but I wasn’t sure how Hawley was going to bring this world to life. When it was first announced there was some question as to how “mutant” it would actually be. Turns out, a lot! The visuals are absolutely stunning and as a whole I was really surprised at where it went. One thing in particular a lot of people probably didn’t notice, I know I didn’t at first glance. My partner asked if I saw “the reflection” in the scene after David breaks the lamp in the basement and so I rewinded a bit. Then I screamed.
Suffice to say, if you loved Plaza’s lovely darkness in Parks and Recreation, you’ll appreciate what she’s doing here as well.
So, what did you all think? I know there’s probably a lot I didn’t pick up on not being as familiar with these characters so fill me in on some of the references!
(GIFs via Randomweas, reflection screencap via reddit)
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/our-name-is-fxs-legion/
https://mattthecatania.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/legion2.png?w=1024&h=576
Oh! And how about that casual/awesome gay storyline?
Having finished the season last night – Aubrey Plaza for an Emmy please. Also so glad she’ll be around for S2, was kind of worried there for a bit. Also, how awesome is Jemaine Clement? I’m probably going to rewatch the whole season this weekend.
They’re the unbeatable charisma combo!
The costumes, sets, sfx, & music folk all deserve Emmys too.
[…] all the hype around FX’s Legion (the hype is real), I actually forgot Singer was working on another mutant-based TV show. This one is still untitled […]
It’s interesting how they’re approaching Fauxavier as ableist. She’s under the assumption that just because David’s a mutant he can’t be neurodivergent, which is a power fantasy that can be harmful to folks with genuine issues. Meanwhile the audience sees that both options aren’t mutually exclusive.
Odds on whether the Brand-X Men are also figments?
I had similar thoughts, especially considering none of those names came from anyplace in the comics.
UXN updated its Legion profile:
https://uncannyxmen.net/characters/legion
I’m hoping that Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) is some form of Cindy, David’s pyrokenetic personality.
She looks like Cyndi, but she was a (supposedly) real dead person like Jemail Karami.
One of the most beautiful and unsettling episodes of television I’ve ever seen. I was ill at ease but Dan Stevens was magnetic, could not take my eyes off his performance, and it draws you into the insanity so well. Aubrey Plaza was brilliant, and I was thankful for some kind of mostly reality/grounding at the end because it was almost too much crazy for me. I hope there’s a degree of grounding in later episodes to anchor to, but I am seriously impressed and glad that this is a thing.
I didn’t recognize any of the names/characters besides David Haller himself, but I thought the creepy yellow eyed dude felt like Mojo too. It sounds like Hawley is distancing the show from comic canon, but it definitely felt like it took some grand inspiration not only from the original Sienkewicz art, but the brilliant X-Men Legacy comic starring Legion written by Si Spurrier, which I can’t recommend enough. It was a book I tried on a lark when issue 1 came out and I was hooked all the way through.
This is the best looking comic book TV show, but DAVID’S HAIR IS WRONG.
I call it the “Hugh Jackman Looks Goofy With All That Mousse” Curse.
I haven’t watched it yet because someone close to me has DID and I worry about the way it’s going to be portrayed. Can anyone weigh in on its sensitivity to the subject matter?
Hey, I reached out to a pal who may be able to speak more intelligently on this and myself. She hasn’t watched yet but will update when I know more.
There seems to be less emphasis on multiple personalities and more on hallucinations in terms of how the extra personas manifest. In textbook DID, personalities don’t interact. I’m in favor of the writers moving toward schizophrenia and away from DID since there is mixed evidence for the latter as a clinical disorder. I still think we need more episodes to fully understand his mental health/superpower presentation. As far as the show, it is difficult to watch for many reasons, but I think worth the effort.
Thank you! I really appreciate that!
Right from the beginning I was predicting tat Aubrey Plaza’s character was not really there. That she just existed in David’s mind. But they seem to be going for a ‘she was real but now only exists in his mind’. Although it would not surprise me if they pull a ‘she was never real at all’ because I have noticed a rise in bait and switch shockers on television that annoy me to no end.
I wonder if the yellow eyed demon will turn out to be the Shadow King trying to hijack David’s body so he can take his powers.
I quite enjoyed it. I had been planning on skipping this as the X films have left me in the cold lately and I’m not really even keeping up with the DC shows at this point. But I’m glad a friend recommended this. I pretty much liked everything about it.
Heck, I don’t even know how much of that crew at the end were real and how many might have just been in his head. And I’m glad Plaza will still be on the show even with what happened to her character. It’s a clever way to do it.
Yeah the X-Men films has been pretty disappointing to me to as of late but I keep hoping for better because I love the mutant world so much! I think they’ve said this show might loosely connect to the film universe at one point but I’m hoping they don’t force it just to make that happen.
So in the comics, David has multiple personalities and each personality has its own superpowers and wild different behavior. When a personality becomes dominant, its powers come to the fore. At times David has created a mental prison for the personalities that allows him to access their powers for a short period of time. I wonder if Aubrey Plaza is one of these personalities and what powers she might have.
Hmm, considering that I’d say Plaza is for sure now… what about the yellow-eyed guy? Mojo or someone else?
It’s just another alter, but why don’t we have a movie or show set in the Mojoverse yet?
Is that Lenny in the reflection? I definitely didn’t notice that at first look.
YES!
Next question: When can I buy one of those amazing track suits?
Haha, thrift store?