After a highly acclaimed first season that has also seen very high viewership numbers so far, X-Men spin-off series, Legion has been renewed in advance for a second season by FX. It’s currently unknown how many episodes the second season will include, though we can expect the new batch of Legion offerings at some point in 2018.
Legion has become one of the most watched new cable dramas of the current season, and saw particularly high ratings for FX, a premium cable network which has also enjoyed huge success with two other new shows in 2017 so far, Taboo and Feud. Legion is showrun by FX’s own Fargo showrunner, Noah Hawley, and stars Dan Stevens as David Haller, a schizophrenic being shuffled between mental institutions, who comes to learn that the visions and voices he perceives may actually be real. The show’s supporting cast includes Rachel Keller as Sydney ‘Syd’ Barrett, Aubrey Plaza as Lenny ‘Cornflakes’ Busker, Katie Aselton as Amy Haller, Jean Smart as Dr. Melanie Bird, Jeremie Harris as Ptonomy Wallace, Bill Irwin as Cary Loudermilk, and Amber Midthunder as Kerry Loudermilk.
Legion is a collaborative production between FX and Marvel Television, as one of two results from a specialized X-Men television rights sharing deal between Marvel Entertainment and the Fox Entertainment Group. Unlike the X-Men movie franchise from 20th Century Fox (along with its spin-off movie franchise, Deadpool), which Marvel has no influence over, Marvel Television is creatively involved in the story and production of Legion alongside FX and showrunner, Hawley, with Marvel Television head, Jeph Loeb serving as an executive producer on the series, while Fox Entertainment Group retains the bulk of distribution rights and revenue.
The other X-Men spin-off series to spawn from this rights sharing deal is Gifted, an upcoming FOX drama targeting a premiere in the 2017-2018 season, which involves a family that discovers their children are mutants, and must go on the run from hostile government forces. Legion currently has no direct connection to Fox’s X-Men movies, and was originally treated as existing in a parallel universe from them, though Gifted is confirmed to be a part of the same universe and canon as Fox’s X-Men movies right from the get-go.
Legion has three episodes remaining from its current first season, which will conclude its eight-episode run at the end of this month. Tonight’s episode, “Chapter 6”, will air in the usual timeslot of 10:00-11:00 P.M. EST on FX.
Keep perceiving Eggplante for all major news and updates on Legion, and other developments from Fox’s X-Men franchise.