Deadline broke the news today that Rachel Keller has been cast as the female lead in Legion, the pilot based on the X-Men universe for FX in conjunction with Marvel Television. Keller is no stranger to the network, she currently appears in the critically acclaimed second season of Fargo on FX. Fargo also shares a showrunner with Legion, Noah Hawley. X-Men director Bryan Singer and Marvel TV executives Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory are also involved in the project.
Little is known about the character that Keller will play. Deadline says she will play the “scrappy, optimistic” female lead. It is also unknown if she will be a mutant or not, but the rumors are her character may have powers “possibly tied to human touch.”
Legion is the story of David Haller, son of Professor Xavier, the leader of the X-Men. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Haller one day discovers that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may be real after all.
There is no word yet on who will star in the title role. It will be also interesting to see if Legion will connect the X-Men to the greater Marvel Universe. As TV shows such as Agents of SHIELD and Jessica Jones become more important to the MCU I am curious to see what that will mean for the X-Men (and the use of the word “mutant” especially, which has yet to be included in a Marvel film).
Keep an eye on The Marvel Report for more casting news and other updates related to this project!