FX’s Legion Casts Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, and Jean Smart

Additionally, you may remember that Rachel Keller was announced as the female lead, Syd, for the show early last month.

David Haller, a.k.a. Legion, in the pages of Marvel comics. Additionally, Fargo showrunner Hawley will write the pilot and serve as an executive producer alongside Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and Marvel’s Jeph Loeb.

Noah Hawley’s X-Men offshoot Legion has cast the net far and wide in its search of an ensemble cast, and today The Hollywood Reporter brings word of three starry new additions in the form of Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart and Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens. While the Legion series won’t share continuity with the X-Men movies, it will take place in a world where mutants are real. In the series, his struggles for sanity have left him exhausted and ready to give up, but according to FX, he “meets the girl of his dreams”, and well, you know how those things go! In the X-Men comics, David is the son of X-Men founder Charles Xavier.

Though we think he’s better suited to be the next 007, it looks like former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens is set to transform into a superhero instead.

LENNY (Aubrey Plaza) – David’s friend, who despite a life of drugs and alcohol abuse, knows that any day now her life is gonna turn around, which gives Lenny the likeable energy of the impossible optimist despite her rough demeanor.

Smart will play Melanie, a “demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods”.

Keller will play Syd, a self-reliant woman with street smarts who employs her gruff demeanor to protect her vulnerable side and, despite life’s challenges, still believes in a happy ending.

Plaza’s casting comes as a surprise, as she had seemingly moved on to features after seven seasons on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Production is scheduled to get underway this March.