Is ‘Legion’ Connected To The X-Men Movies? The FX Drama Is Marvel’s First Non-MCU TV Show

“Legion” is in a league of its own. The series is produced by Marvel Television. However, unlike “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Daredevil” and all the other Marvel TV shows, “Legion” is not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, it’s not connected to any movie universe.

“Legion” follows David Haller (Dan Stevens), the son of Charles Xavier. He thinks he is schizophrenic, and he has spent his life in mental institutions. However, he doesn’t realize that he is a mutant.

Dedicated Marvel fans understand why the show isn’t in the MCU. The rights to X-Men are owned by 20th Century Fox while the Disney-owned Marvel Studios has the rights to the Avengers and various other characters. The two worlds aren’t crossing over any time soon, so it’s natural that this is Marvel Television’s first live action show without any links to the MCU.

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However, “Legion” also isn’t connected to the X-Men films. IGN directly asked producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who also produces the films, if the FX show would be related to the big screen stories. “No, we’re making it separate. We’re our own world,” she clarified.

Donner went on to explain that while writer Matt Nix’s upcoming Fox TV series, which is still untitled and in development, will be connected to the films, “Legion” stands on its own to give showrunner Noah Hawley creative control. “With ‘Legion,’ we’re our own universe,” she said. “It gives Noah the freedom to do what he wants to do. Because we play with so many different timelines, and we rebooted and not really rebooted and all that, we felt like, OK, we’re going to throw it out there and hope the fans accept it.”

Some audiences might prefer this approach. One major gripe many fans have with the MCU is that the TV shows are always acknowledging the movie events, but the films never seem to notice the events from the small screen.

However, this also means that familiar faces could be replaced. Donner confirmed that if the show eventually shows Charles Xavier, he will not be played by James McAvoy or Patrick Stewart. A new actor would replace him. DC does the same with their unrelated TV and movie universes. Ezra Miller plays the Flash on the big screen while Grant Gustin plays the speedster on the CW series. Fans have had mixed reactions about seeing two different portrayals of the same character at the same time.

It seems “Legion” isn’t going to be relying too much on comic book characters, though. Fans can already look at the cast and see that most of the characters are original. Donner noted that the show might eventually explore some more comic book characters, but for now, they’re sticking to David Haller.

“Legion” Season 1 premieres Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. EST on FX.