The new FX series Legion is loosely connected to the X-Men films, so it’s not impossible for a few X-Men villains to make their way to the small screen. And that just might have happened in the premiere episode of Legion.
During the pilot of Legion, a bald, overweight figure with piercing yellow eyes appeared several times, most notably during the “body switch” between David (Dan Stevens) and Syd (Rachel Keller) at the hospital. He appeared to an unnerving string and percussions tune, which just underscores how frightening he’s meant to be. While this “person” is the first mystery of Legion, more knowledgeable X-Men fans recognize him as bearing a strong resemblance to Mojo, an alien slaver who rules the Mojoverse where all are addicted to his gladiator TV shows.
Legion isn’t a full-blown X-Men show and seems preoccupied with David and his psyche, so it’s hard to imagine Mojo as an antagonist, especially in the first season. Plus, in the comics, Legion and Mojo pretty much never met, and Mojo being an alien feels too big to fit the small scope of Legion. (Not even the X-Men movies have included aliens.)
Still, Legion is all about questioning reality. So could David actually be trapped in Mojo’s alien reality shows? Mojo was created by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams and debuted in Longshot #3 in 1985. Nocenti, who was studying journalism at the time she was professionally writing comics, was created as a spoof on the monolithic media corporations that were growing more powerful in the ‘80s.
Left: Mojo in 'X-Men' comics. Right: Mojo (?) in the FX series 'Legion.'
The producers of Legion are teasing a revelatory twist in the next few episodes, akin to showrunner Noah Hawley’s other FX series, Fargo. While that twist could take the form of a connective tissue to the X-Men films, it’d be a real shocker if Legion was itself a TV show airing in the Mojoverse.
Legion airs Wednesdays on FX at 10 p.m. Eastern.
