Aside from all their big screen projects coming down the pipeline, Fox is also doing some exciting things with the X-Men universe on television. Earlier this year, we saw Legion arrive on FX, which turned out to be a huge hit with fans and critics alike. Now, we’ve got The Gifted to look forward to. Set to premiere in the fall, none of the mutants from the films will be showing up in this new series, as far as we know. That means no Cyclops, no Jean Grey, no Magneto, etc. However, there’s nothing to say that some of these characters won’t pop up in the future.
We’ve already learned that The Gifted will have ties to the wider X-Men universe, though what exactly those are hasn’t been made clear just yet. Again though, it’s certainly possible that some familiar faces will be thrown into the mix down the road and while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, star Stephen Moyer touched on this when asked whether or not Anna Paquin’s Rogue may be involved.
“Well, obviously she is in the X-Men universe. Her character, obviously, could possibly … I don’t know, I don’t quite understand the timeline because obviously, the X-Men timeline is very, very specific, so never say never, but I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything that gets me into trouble.”
While that’s far from a confirmation, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that Rogue, or any of the other X-Men for that matter, could make an appearance here. After all, like Moyer alludes to in his comments, the timeline is a bit nutty and all over the place, making it difficult to understand and follow. As such, it’d probably be easy to have Anna Paquin make a quick cameo, or even give her a small role, and not have it feel too forced or out of place.
Of course, that’s just speculation and like we said above, as of now, none of the characters from the films are slated to appear in The Gifted. Besides, even if something like this were to happen, we don’t imagine it being done in the first season. The show needs to prove that it can stand on its own two feet first and be compelling and enjoyable by itself before throwing in cameos from already established fan favorites, like Rogue. Still, it’s exciting to know that the possibility is there and as we start to inch closer to the fall, we’ll hopefully begin to learn more about how The Gifted fits into Fox’s X-Men universe.