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Report: Marvel’s LEGION TV Show Casts FARGO’s Rachel Keller as Lead

Evidently, launching Daredevil second season the same weekend as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t enough for Marvel; they are planning to expand their sprawling TV empire even further this year with two pilots on FX set in the X-Men universe, Hellfire and Legion. Now Deadline is reporting that Legion has cast its female lead from another FX series, Fargo star Rachel Keller.

Keller’s role on Fargo as Simone Gerhardt, the deadly daughter of a Minnesota crime dynasty, brought her critical acclaim and quickly made her a hit amongst fans. It should come as little surprise that Keller landed the role in the Legion pilot, not only because of her obvious talent, but also because it will see her re-teaming with Fargo creator Noah Hawley, who wrote the pilot and will executive produce the series.

Based on what we know so far, Legion will follow David Heller, the child of Charles Xavier, who has struggled with mental illness and schizophrenia since his teenage years. After spending years both in and out of psychiatric hospitals, David has a disturbing encounter with another patient that makes him question whether or not the visions and voices in his head are real.

Keller is reported to play the female lead, a “scrappy, optimistic woman in her 20s,” who has powers of an unspecified nature. The report in question theorizes that her character will have touch-based powers a la characters like Rogue or Spyke. Personally speaking, I would love to see her play a character like Husk, the mutant-powered sister of Cannonball and former X-Man who’s mental condition rapidly deteriorated in the wake of Avengers vs. X-Men.

husk-x-men

It is worth noting, though, that neither Marvel TV nor FX has confirmed her casting, but smart money would be on this coming to fruition.

There is no planned airdate yet for Legion.

What do you think of Keller’s casting? Who would you like to see play David? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

HT: Deadline

Image: Chris Large/FX Networks

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about the Avengers and Star Wars. You can follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious)

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