Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we now seem to be in a trend where Superheroes are not only populating movie theaters on a regular basis, but also seem to be invading our TV’s (No Tiny Toons pun intended). Marvel Studios is going strong with Agents of SHIELD (even if it is incredibly subpar), Agent Carter, Daredevil and Jessica Jones. They even have several new shows on the way, including The Punisher, The Defenders, and Mockingbird. DC has also managed to create their own line-up of shows but where as the Marvel shows to coincide with Marvel’s film universe, the DC shows like Arrow, The Flash & Supergirl are in their own universe with no connection to Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I personally don’t have a problem with either decision. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Grant Gustin’s Flash and Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow kick ass on the big screen, alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. However, at the same time, them having their own universe for television gives them almost unlimited reign to do what they please. They aren’t restricted by coinciding films like Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter clearly are, and DC’s managed to pull out some great material because of it, with their newest show Legends of Tomorrow following suit.
Now, it seems like FOX is ready to throw their hat into the ring by expanding upon their X-Men universe with two new television shows, Hellfire & Legion, that will be produced by X-Men frontrunner Bryan Singer. The first show, Hellfire, will apparently revolve around The Hellfire Club from the X-Men comics. The Hellfire Club was first seen on film in X-Men: First Class, where we saw Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost running the show alongside Azazel and Riptide. It was a very different take on the characters as The Hellfire Club (especially Emma Frost) in the comics was heavily involved in The Dark Phoenix Saga rather than the origins of the X-Men. Personally, while I don’t think they portrayed The Hellfire Club right (Emma Frost gave all the emotion of a frickin’ lump of diamond and January Jones was absolutely pitiful in the role), the movie still managed to be a good time despite it.
In regards to how he will help handle Hellfire, Bryan Singer had this to say in a recent interview with Variety;“I think the underbelly [could be explored]. There’s always something interesting about a school that’s got a military aspect beneath its classrooms. Is there another layer to all of that? Is there another layer to the Hellfire Club? The idea of, ‘Who’s running the world?’ — that’s something that was touched upon in ‘First Class’ but has yet to be fully explored. It just has to be explored in a very gentle, methodical way. And I’ve seen it go haywire. I’m not going to be specific where I believe it has. The audience will tell you. But when it’s done right, it all can connect.”
It’ll be interesting to see how all of this can connect. Remember, while X-Men: Days Of Future Past erased the first four films from the timeline, X-Men: First Class is technically still canon. So in regards to connecting this show to the films, this show can go either way. Will it be a prequel before X-Men: First Class with a Kevin Bacon cameo to match? or will it take place in present day with The Hellfire Club rising once again? Maybe, we can actually do The Dark Phoenix some justice this time around (sorry, X-Men: The Last Stand sucked). Hell, I’d love to see Emma Frost back (provided she’s NOT played by January Jones). Yeah, X-Men: Days Of Future Past said she was dead but it’s a comic book movie, so I take any off-screen deaths with a serious grain of salt (Except for Angel and Azazel. We totally saw their autopsy photos). Not to mention, she shouldn’t be dead. Emma Frost is too important to throw away like that (Generation X, anyone?). It can work, FOX, make it happen. Either way, though, the show sounds like a great idea. X-Men is a rich universe with a vast variety of characters so I honestly believe a TV series might work better than the film series.
In regards to his future with the franchise, Singer had this to say; “When you spend nearly two decades in a universe, to simply say, ‘I’m done,’ or, ‘I’m going to abandon it,’ just wouldn’t make sense to me. I’m very connected to this universe and a lot of these actors, and also the characters, whoever plays them. So never say never.” Based on this, it doesn’t look like Singer will be leaving the franchise anytime soon. Thus far, who would want him to leave? He has directed, inarguably, the best films in the X-Men series, dating back to the very first X-Men film in 2000. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the godfather of the franchise. Not to mention, the last time he left the series we got X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. So yeah, Nuff said.
While Singer didn’t say much about Legion, the other X-Men series being produced by FOX, the show will largely follow David Haller, a young mutant struggling with schizophrenia, who soon learns from a fellow patient that his voices and visions could very well be real. Haller is also known to comic book fans as being the son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. Both shows are currently in production at FOX and no release date has been set for either one at this time.
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