From the moment Fox’s X-Men TV series was first announced, and later christened The Gifted, the creative forces behind the family-centric drama have gone on record time and time again to clarify that, yes, the family drama will follow in the footsteps of Legion and blaze its own path later this year.
It’ll still have its roots in Fox’s grand X-Men universe, of course, but we understand The Gifted will carve out its own corner on the admittedly convoluted timeline. Don’t expect any direct ties to the mutant movieverse, then – not yet, anyway – and at least in the eyes of Stephen Moyer, that’s probably for the best. Moyer plays one of two cripplingly ordinary parents in The Gifted – alongside Amy Acker – who discover that their unruly teenagers, Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (Percy Hynes White), have been imbued with mind-bending mutant abilities.
Continuity-wise, Stephen Moyer told eTalk (via Screen Rant) that The Gifted is more concerned with drawing inspiration from the comic books than it is with weaving its way into the X-Men movieverse. That being said, some form of crossover – however minor – is not off the table.
Within the X-Men films, we’re sort of not allied to them or positioned within that. There are obviously mutant characters that have a place in the comic books. Some of them are different, some of them are sort of related in some way. But in terms of timeline, because obviously we just had Logan which was a lot further forward and obviously Legion which is a lot further back. So we definitely slot into a timeline, but as of yet, we’re not allied. I think they have given themselves a lot of leeway in order to be able to go places, but we’ve enough story within our universe to propel us forward without having to do that.
Look for The Gifted to air on Monday evenings at 9pm ET this fall. An exact premiere date is yet to be announced, but we’ll notify you if and when Fox unveils its release plans.