Exclusive: The star of an unfairly overlooked X-Men spin-off that ended 5 years ago is keen to return to the MCU.
FX’s Legion might not be the first X-Men adaptation to spring to mind, but Dan Stevens wants to ride the current crest of the Marvel mutant wave 5 years after Legion ended. With X-Men ’97 wowing both nostalgic comics fans and a whole new generation, and the X-Men’s MCU debut getting closer every day, mutant stock is at a high. And with the multiverse offering veteran Marvel actors a loophole to return, like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Professor X in Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, there are new opportunities for perceived retirements to come to an end.
Stevens spoke to Screen Rant exclusively at CinemaCon about his role in Abigail – currently playing in theaters – and the possibility of returning to the X-Men franchise. The Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire star, who was honored at CinemaCon 2024 with the Award of Excellence in Acting, will be open to reprising his Marvel TV role from 2017-19 in the MCU’s near future. On the subject of Legion and a potential return, Stevens told Screen Rant:
It was a really fun role. I’ve never had anything like it come across my inbox, and it was such a fun gang to work with. The director of Deadpool is here tonight. I think we could maybe have a word. Do you think we should corner him and see what we can do? This is Vegas. We can sort this out.
There may have been more than a little humor in his tone, but Legion’s involvement in any upcoming mutant project – including Deadpool & Wolverine – would bring both an incredibly powerful character and the nuanced depiction of mental health issues Stevens researched heavily for his original performance. Sign us up.
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Though Jackman and Stewart’s returns are obviously the most notable so far in MCU projects, there is precedent to suggest that Stevens’ David Haller from Legion could potentially return. Deadpool & Wolverine also features the unexpected return of Aaron Stanford’s Pyro from the original Fox X-Men movies, with further rumors that the likes of Jennifer Garner will appear as part of a Fox-universe related plot in The Void. Legion joining that cast is far from a major departure from the established logic.
In Legion itself, a young version of Charles Xavier appeared in season 3 (played by Harry Lloyd), as David Haller is the son of Professor X and Gabrielle Haller. That version of Xavier is distinct from the Fox timeline version played by Stewart and James McAvoy, but the original plan for Legion was to have either of the original actors appear. Stewart expressed his enthusiasm for the idea of returning, but Lloyd was cast as part of showrunner Noah Hawley’s desire to establish a separate reality (per The Wrap).
We have, of course, already seen another version of Xavier in the MCU, thanks to Stewart’s return in Doctor Strange 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine or the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars further referencing other timelines separate to the Fox and Marvel Studios ones would be an easy justification for Dan Stevens’ return. This Legion could even be directly related to the version of Xavier Scarlet Witch killed. Given how much Deadpool & Wolverine feels like part of Marvel’s closure on the Fox X-Men universe, having Legion acknowledged would be fitting for a show that deserved more when it aired.
