Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens looks set to join the Marvel universe, as he has been cast in the lead role in FX’s X-Men spinoff Legion. The pilot will also star Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Jean Smart (Fargo) and Rachel Keller (Fargo).
According to Variety, Stevens will take on the role of David (the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier, if the series intends to follow the comic book storyline), a haunted man diagnosed as schizophrenic at a young age who’s trying to find his way back to sanity.
He’s about to give up when he meets the girl of his dreams. His friend Lenny, played by Plaza, is described as having the likable energy of the impossible optimist, who despite a life of drugs and alcohol abuse, she knows her life will soon turn around.
Jean Smart will play Melanie, a nurturing, demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods, while Deadline reports that Rachel Keller will play the “self-sufficient and street-smart Syd, who uses her sharp and prickly demeanor to protect her soft core, because even though it makes her a sucker and puts her at risk, she still believes in happily ever after”.
Legion will be written by Noah Hawley, who will also serve as executive producer alongside Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory and John Cameron.
Given Hawley’s track record with Fargo, the show is already garnering a lot of interest and could well be on its way to becoming a successful series.
The pilot should go into production in March.
#Peace.Love.DanStevens
