Besides revealing that Professor X may appear in the near future, Noah Hawley opens up about how the series will 'evolve' its story, Oliver Bird's big part and a 'renewed tension' in season 2.
- Mar 30, 2017
AceShowbiz - "Legion" aired its season 1 finale on Wednesday, March 29 with an intriguing post-credits scene, paying homage to Marvel's movies tendency to feature one. During a conference call with press about the final episode, titled "Chapter 8", show creator and executive producer Noah Hawley explained the post-credits scene as well as talked about what to expect in the upcoming season 2.
[SPOILER ALERT!] The season finale of the FX series sees David Haller (Dan Stevens) and his Summerland allies finally getting rid of villainous Shadow King (Aubry Plaza) from David's body. However they didn't get much time to enjoy the one-season long goal. In the crazy post-credits cliffhanger, David and his girlfriend Syd (Rachel Keller) quietly meditate on their recent victory, but then an orb comes out out of nowhere and captures David inside its incredibly small size.
Hawley dubbed the lattest development of David "out of the frying pan and into the fire." The show creator further explained that the nerve-wracking post-credits scene meant that season 2 was soon to begin. "It means that we've completed this story and we're starting a new one."
He went on saying, "My goal is always that the first season would be about fighting the enemy within and, you know, learning about this entity that was inside of David and about getting it out of David, and season 2 will be about then the enemy without and this entity now we know is a person."
Hawley revealed that he wanted to make the story complicated rather than going to "a simple straight line," so he made David disappear when he was "about to go off pursuit of the Shadow King." Hawley wanted to keep the pressure on as he believed that if "you keep the pressure on someone whose psychology has always been unstable, it's going to keep him from being able to really [heal]."
Hawley kept the detail of the orb under wraps. However, he gave out a major tease as he said, "As for who's behind the orb and who sent it, I think that's one of the mysteries we want to explore in season 2."
Despite not wanting to give too many detail about what to expect in the next installment, Hawley revealed that season 2 would feature more of Shadow King who was currently living within Oliver Bird (Jemaine Clement). He also gushed a big scene between Oliver and Cary Loudermilk (Bill Irwin) which he believed would create "such an exciting possibility in terms of storytelling."
Hawley added that Shadow King's existance within another character would offer some renewed tension whenever the creature next encountered David. He also promised that Clement's Oliver would "definitely play a big part in season 2."
To satisfy fans' curiosity, a topic of David's father in the Marvel comics, Professor Charles Xavier, was also brought up onto the discussion during the conference. By far, Hawley had shown several canons throughout the first season, reaffirming its connection to the MCU. He said, "So, it was always my intention to acknowledge who his father was." He added, "I didn't really feel like there was any way that I could change who his father was, I mean that seemed like a sacrilegious thing to do."
When asked whether Professor X would appear on the series, Hawley opted for a vague answer. According to the creator, Professor X was unlikely to show up in season 2, but he admitted that "there's that story will need to be addressed at some point in the future."
Whether he would bring Patrick Stewart or James McAvoy's Professor X on the series, Hawley disclosed that it would need a further discussion between him and 20th Century Fox. "It's a conversation both with the actor and with the studio. I don't know. I haven't really dived into that quandary yet. But I certainly need to start thinking about it," he opened up.
Amid his busy schedule between "Legion" and "Fargo", Hawley revealed that he wanted to launch the second season in February 2018 at the same date as the first season. He also planned on expanding season 2 into a ten-episode season over this season's eight episodes.
