Much digital ink has been spilled regarding The Gifted, Fox and Marvel’s small-screen drama involving the Struckers, a regular ol’ American family who soon discover that their two children – namely Lauren (Gotham’s Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (Percy Hynes White) – boast mutant abilities. Dangerous abilities.
That places them between the crosshairs of some nefarious organizations, who want nothing more but to round up any and all mutants and subject them to gruesome, unspeakable tests. And so, in order to protect their children, Reed and Caitlin Strucker – played here by Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker, respectively – take a leaf out of Logan‘s book and go on the run.
Speaking of the clawed mutant, don’t expect to see him or any of your other favorite X-Men appear in The Gifted. Though it’s set in the same universe, the iconic heroes are gone by the time things kick off in Fox’s family drama. As showrunner Matt Nix explained to CBR recently, a “9/11-type event” is the cause for their disappearance.
“The X-Men are gone. The Brotherhood is gone. Most of the powerful classic mutants are not around. People don’t know where they’ve gone. They are shrouded in mystery. It comes out gradually over the course of the series that there’s been a cataclysmic event, a bit of a 9/11 event, that caused enormous social upheaval and a lot of hatred towards mutants. It’s somehow related to the disappearance of the X-Men and the Brotherhood.”
Further in the interview, Nix spoke about the Mutant Underground, which is the “nationwide network that sprang up when anti-mutant laws became draconian.”
“They are working to deal with the results on this society-wide crackdown on mutants. They are trying to get mutants in trouble to safety. It’s not illegal to be a mutant, but it’s functionally illegal to use your powers in a public place in any way that could conceivably endanger anyone. So, The Gifted is another way into those classic questions of the X-Men. This group is asking itself a lot of the same questions that have been asked in the comics and the movies, but they are asking them from a unique perspective.
They don’t have a mansion. They don’t have a jet. They are living in a ruined bank that is falling down and rests on the outskirts of Atlanta. They don’t have anything, including money. They are struggling to buy food. It’s a very different take on the comics, but they ask some of the same questions. Some people want to fight. Some people want to find a way to co-exist.”
Following its long-anticipated premiere on October 2nd, The Gifted will occupy a Monday night slot on Fox for the entirety of its 10-episode run. A second season is said to be on the cards, though neither Marvel nor Fox have announced anything official just yet. Keep your peepers peeled and fingers crossed.
