The world is loving the ever continuous film and television adaptations, and world expansions, of comic book superhero’s. And really any adaptation in general. Today a slew of announcements were made that should mollify the swarming crowds for a little longer.
First up was a gigantic deal made between Marvel and The Fox Television Group. Two new shows, set in the X-Men universe, have been created and given pilot deals with FX and Fox. Both shows will be executive produced by Bryan Singer, the film franchise’s director, as well as the franchise’s producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg and Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory. Legion will air on FX and is written and executive produced by Noah Hawley, creator of Fargo, while the Evan Katz (24: Live Another Day), Manny Coto (24), Patrick McKay (Star Trek 3) and JD Payne (Star Trek 3) created Hellfire (working title) will air on Fox. Though both shows are will be based in the X-Men universe, neither series will have the X-Men branding.
Based on the Marvel comics character Legion, son of X-Men founder Charles Xavier, the show will follow David Haller. In and out of psychiatric hospitals for years, Haller was with mental illness since he was a teenager and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After an encounter with a fellow patient, however, he begins to think the visions and voices might be real. Whereas Hellfire will center on an illicit society of millionaires, known as “The Hellfire Club,” whose main aim is to take over the world with the help of a power hungry woman with exceptional powers and the secret agent who learns of their existence.
FX will also be developing Brian K. Vaughn’s dystopian sci-fi comic, Y: The Last Man. As of yet there is no director attached to the project and they are still looking for a writer to help Vaughn develop a script, though Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will help to develop the comic. FX and FX Production will produce Y: The Last Man.
Then, a little off the superhero track but exciting nonetheless, Warner Bros made big Godzilla related announcements earlier today. Legendary and Warner Bros. are officially mapping out their new cinematic franchise stated in a release from the studios earlier today, “all-powerful monsters become towering heroes for a new generation, revealing a mythology that brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new. Monarch, the human organization that uncovered Godzilla in the 2014 film, will expand their mission across multiple releases.”
The film trio will begin with Kong: Skull Island on March 10, 2017; Godzilla 2 on June 8, 2018 and then Godzilla vs. Kong, debuting in theaters in 2020.
