L'histoire de David Haller, le fils schizophrène du professeur Xavier, un homme sujet depuis l'adolescence à une maladie mentale. Au cours d'un de ses nombreux séjours en hôpital psychiatrique, une étrange rencontre avec un patient lui fait réaliser que les voix qu'il entend et les visions auxquelles il est confronté pourraient se révéler vraies.
When you think about it, lots of superheroes could benefit from therapy. What demons is the Flash really trying to outrun? And Superman — clearly he’s working through unresolved abandonment issues. (Maybe the true fortress of solitude is … his heart.)
“Legion,” which begins on Wednesday on FX, presents a superhero drama as psychic journey, distinguishing itself in an overcrowded genre by setting its most compelling drama in its protagonist’s mind. It’s no ordinary comic-book show: it’s a head trip, and it’s spectacular.
From its opening montage, “Legion” drops you into the baroquely disoriented head space of David Haller (Dan Stevens), who may be insane or may be the world’s most powerful telepath. (The term of art is “mutant,” since “Legion” is based on a story from Marvel’s X-Men franchise, though the more familiar characters from that universe are so far absent.)
All his young life, David has suffered hallucinations and heard voices, with an associated symptom: When he gets upset, things around him tend to explode. He’s institutionalized and medicated, with his sister, Amy (Katie Aselton), his only contact with the outside world. His telekinetic outbursts, he’s told, are all in his head.