Looks like FX liked Legion's pilot. A lot.
The network is teaming up with Marvel to produce a full season for the X-Men spinoff following the story of Professor Charles Xavier's son, David Haller. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Haller has been coming and going from psychiatric hospitals until a strange encounter with another patient puts him face-to-face with the possibility that the voices in his head and the visions he's been having might be real.
Given that Haller is unaware of the possible mutations he possesses, it suggests that either he doesn't know who his father was or that he lives in a time period where mutants are not very well-known. As he is also an adult already, Haller appears to live in a time period beyond the timeline the most recent trilogy of the X-Men has followed.
As a comic book character, Haller first appeared in 1985 in New Mutants #25. His mother was Gabrielle Haller, an Israeli Holocaust survivor.
Set to premiere in early 2017, Legion will have eight episodes and star Dan Stevens as Haller. In the pilot, Stevens starred with Aubrey Plaza, Rachel Keller and Jean Smart. Showrunner Noah Hawley is also working on the third season of Fargo, which might help explain the small episode order for Legion. It is presumed that future seasons will have more episodes. Filming for Legion is scheduled to begin in summer.
"Just as he did in reimagining Fargo, he is bringing an entirely new aesthetic and sensibility to the enormously popular and richly represented X-men world," said Nick Grad, FX's president for original programming, of Hawley.
Aside from penning the pilot, Hawley is also executive producing the series alongside Bryan Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Jim Chory, Jeph Loeb and John Cameron.
The announcement for the series order comes as X-Men: Apocalypse is playing in cinemas. Legion will also extend Marvel's presence in the small screen, joining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Punisher spinoff. On FX's drama slate, it will join The Strain, Tyrant, The Americans, American Crime Story and American Horror Story.
