I Am Legion, For We Are Many

I Am Legion, For We Are Many
Courtesy Photo Dan Stevens (left) and Aubrey Plaza (right) star in Legion, a new Marvel Comics saga show that follows the story of David Haller, who may or may not be suffering from mental illness of voices in his head.

Courtesy Photo
Dan Stevens (left) and Aubrey Plaza (right) star in Legion, a new Marvel Comics saga show that follows the story of David Haller, who may or may not be suffering from mental illness of voices in his head.

David Haller has some problems. He can’t escape the voices in his head, and has been stuck in Clockworks Mental Institution for half a decade. He does the work that’s asked of him, but he doesn’t appear to be getting any better.

David still sees things that aren’t there, devils with yellow eyes and people folded into the institute’s fake foliage. The voices still whisper to him. David Haller can’t find peace.

Because David Haller’s problems don’t begin or end with mental illness.

Legion, the new drama from Fargo creator/director Noah Hawley (the tv show, not the movie), quickly establishes the unreliable nature of its story. David (Dan Stevens) is, to the best of his knowledge, a sick young man, with great trouble figuring out what’s real or not. The viewer easily slips into that frame of mind as well, as Clockworks is decorated in a slightly surreal fashion, and people who may or may not be real blend into the background. We’re just as incapable as David of telling what’s really happening or what’s in his head.

Legion is the first show in Fox’s attempt to widen its Marvel holdings. David Haller is — in the source material — the schizophrenic omega-level mutant son of Charles Xavier. Whether this adaptation will keep that aspect of his origins is unknown, but we know David is a mutant, and from the teams of people pursuing him, an incredibly powerful one at that.

David isn’t totally alone, though. In Clockworks, he has a friend in Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) and a moment of love at first sight newcomer Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller). It’s that love that launches us into our story, as Syd is also a mutant, with Rogue-like powers that mean she can never touch another person, as the X-Men character Rogue would suck the life force and powers from those she touched. When she touches David, mutant shenanigans ensue and the story takes off in earnest, and the aforementioned teams pursuing him come into play.

I really can’t undersell how fantastic this show is. Artistic and beautifully shot with a soundtrack that is basically perfection, Legion continues the perfect track record of Noah Hawley. It’s hard to follow up the universal praise that Fargo received, but Legion is showing all the signs of doing the same.

Categories: Commentary