While DC has cornered the market on television adaptations of their comic book heroes, Marvel Entertainment has been building an empire on Netflix — until now.
STARS: 4/5
Marvel Studios has partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to create FX’s “Legion,” based on the comic by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz. The series tells the story of David Haller/Legion (Dan Stevens), a diagnosed schizophrenic who discovers that the voices he hears in his mind may be real.
Unlike Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” “Legion” is a comic book adaption for people who don’t like superheroes. “Legion” operates outside the superhero universe with subtle nods to Haller’s X-Men roots.
The show’s premiere opened with a trippy sequence taking the viewers through Haller’s life, up until his incarceration in a mental hospital. It’s visually stunning, although confusing at times, and leaves audiences excited to see the next chapter.
The show also deals with the difficult topic of mental health. Haller fears his diagnosis, whether it might be right or wrong, and if he’ll be on “the cruise ship Mental Health” for the rest of his life.
This emotionally connects the viewer to the character within the first 15 minutes. His story is compelling; even though FX has chosen to focus only on his schizophrenic diagnosis, the character is also said to have autism and dissociative identity disorder.
The show is successful in part because it chooses to ignore the traditional tropes of comic book adaptations. Sure, there’s some government agents who want to identify and capture the mutant, there’s mutant discrimination and a school for the gifted, but, for the most part, “Legion” ignores the X-Men connection to create a new genre of superheroes.
Another big factor for the success of “Legion” is star Dan Stevens. Fans of “Downton Abbey” will recognize Stevens as having played Matthew Crawley on the BBC drama, and later this year he will also be playing The Beast in Disney’s live action musical “Beauty and the Beast.”
Stevens is the perfect actor to play Legion. He’s menacing while still being likeable, and he makes Haller’s suffering seem real. Stevens changes personalities in a snap, but never strays far from the reality of Haller’s disease.
The real stars of “Legion” are the special effects by Paul Benjamin. The entire show is visually stunning, and Benjamin literally takes viewers inside the mind of Legion. It’s jarring and nothing like what audiences have seen on cable television.
“Legion” is the show to watch this year because it redefines the genre it lives in. Its goal is to pull in audiences of all kinds, not just comic book fans.