FX’s Legion is approaching the end of its first season, and up to this point it’s garnered great acclaim from fans and critics alike for its brilliantly unconventional (if at times a little confusing ) approach to the standard “superhero” story – although, some have taken issue with its refusal to acknowledge certain elements from the source material.
Though the show is set in the established continuity of 20th Century Fox’s big-screen X-Men universe, it’s yet to draw too heavily on the movies or the comics for inspiration. Last week’s penultimate episode did finally drop a few hints that Charles Xavier was David’s real father (we saw an X-spoked wheelchair and a bald chalk drawing), but stopped just short of mentioning him by name.
Now that the show has been renewed for a second season, can fans expect to see more direct references to the comic book arcs and characters? Here’s what showrunner Noah Hawley had to say to CBR on the matter:
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. 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.
While that might leave some feeling a little disappointed, Hawley does add that we’ll most likely see “ideas or characters or images that are familiar,” so that’s something, at least.
Perhaps we’ll get a better idea of what to expect going forward when Legion wraps up its first season this Wednesday with “Chapter 8,” which premieres at 10PM on FX. Will you be tuning in? Let us know in the usual place.