FOX's 'The Gifted': Everything We Know So Far

There’s a lot of significant buzz surrounding FOX’s newest X-Men series, “The Gifted.” A few hours from now, we’ll finally get to see Matt Nix’s not-so-new world of mutants in the small screen. FX had its successful run of “Legion,” starring Dan Stevens as David Haller/Legion. It spanned a total of eight episodes but nonetheless proved to be a great take on the X-Men mythos separately.
“The Gifted,” however, will take things into an even more obvious connection to the original X-Men by showing off mutant characters like Eclipse (Sean Teale), Blink (Jamie Chung), Polaris (Coby Bell), Thunderbird (Blair Redford), and Shatter (Jermaine Rivers). The series will also introduce two new mutants—siblings Lauren and Andy Strucker (played by Natalie Alyn Lind and Percy Hynes White respectively).

It’s beginning to shape up real nice as the show’s basic premise centers on the Strucker family and their struggle to run from being tracked by the anti-mutant government agency, Sentinel Services (an obvious play at the Sentinels, the robot mutant killers from the original X-Men comics from Marvel).
The titles of the first three episodes of “The Gifted” have been revealed: “eXposed,” “rX,” and “eXodus.” The first episode is directed by longtime X-Men helmer Bryan Singer. The director also teased in April that Stan Lee will be making a cameo during the series’ pilot episode.
That being said, here’s everything we know about FOX’s “The Gifted.”

A new X-Men era on FOX

The very first teaser of the show gave us a brief look at what to expect. We’re shown a pair of kids experimenting with their newfound powers. “The Gifted” seems to be channeling straight from the pages of the X-Men comics, albeit featuring a premature mutant cast. It also echoes a lot of scenes from Singer’s previous X-Men movies, which kind of makes you feel that it’s all interconnected somewhere along the way. “Legion” gave fans some kind of a psychological aesthetic for its theme. “The Gifted,” on the other hand will feature more action and exposition of mutant powers.

Possible connection to the movies

When the full trailer was released in May, it not only showed a closer look at the mutants but also teased a possibility that the mutants here exist within the same X-Men movie universe. Teale’s character, Marcos Diaz/Eclipse, seems to be bothered by the fact that “the X-Men, the Brotherhood… We don’t even know if they exist anymore.” This might be a very good hint that these mutants are aware of Professor X and the other mutants, and that they are probably hiding during this timeline in the story.

However, in an interview with Stephen Moyer, who plays Reed Strucker (the siblings’ dad), the actor said that “The Gifted” will take up a timeline of its own—at least for now. ‘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,” Moyer said. “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.”

“The Gifted” is all about family and not superheroes up against villains

Like “Legion,” “The Gifted” won’t be your typical X-Men TV show. Rather than focusing on big villains and powerful foes, the show’s narrative will focus on a more personal story centered on the Strucker family. It will also treat the mutants as the villains themselves, as they are forced to evade the government from tracking them down. The mutants won’t necessarily be evil, but more like the antagonist of the human race. That being said, the family themes of the show will be largely amplified, what with Reed being an ex-anti mutant advocate working for the Sentinel Services. Once he learns that his kids are mutants, he will have to turn against everything he believed in and accept his children for who and what they are. A deep family bond will also be seen in the other mutants as they band together to evade whatever the government throws at them.

One of the central mysteries of “The Gifted” will also be about the X-Men themselves, and what happened to them. So it may not be connected to the movies as of now, but we can definitely see a future connection coming somewhere during the series’ run on FOX.
The clock is ticking.
The fans are ready.
Bring on the new era of mutants.
“The Gifted” premieres tonight at 9/8c on FOX.