A new Marvel/X-Men series comes to Fox, but only tenuously connected to the mutants we know and love. "The Gifted" is a family saga with a comic-book vibe and a "Fugitive" thread. It deals with a couple whose children are, in fact, mutants, and to eschew the bigotry that follows the revelation, the clan flees home sweet home.
Created by Max "Burn Notice" Nix (and reputedly influenced by Marvel's "District X"), the ten-episode saga features Stephen Moyer as district attorney Reed Strucker; Amy Aker as his temporarily estranged wife, Caitlin; Percy Hynes White as their son, Andy; and Natalie Alyn Lind as their daughter, Lauren. The youngsters' unique attributes aren't conspicuous at first, but then trouble erupts when bullied Andy goes ballistic at the school dance. Carrie White--move over!!!
On the more matured, mutant side, the series offers Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz/Eclipse, a photon manipulator/absorber; Jamie Chung as the teleporting Clarice Fong/Blink (a character previously seen in "Days of Future Past", though played by Fan Bingbing); Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane/Polaris, a junior-league Magneto; Jermaine Rivers as the crystal-skinned Shatter; and Blair Redford as John Proudstar/Thunderbird, the leader of a symbolic Underground Railroad.
In addition, Coby Bell portrays Jace Turner, who runs Sentinel Services, an agency that dispatches spider-drones to detect and capture mutants. The captives are then caged at the doleful Mutant Detention Center.
Unlike "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", "The Gifted" won't rely as much on theatrical-film references, even though the series will totter somewhere within Fox's "X-Men" mythology. In other words, don't anticipate Hugh Jackman or Halle Barrie cameos any time soon. Darn it...
On the further (possible) downside, "The Gifted'"s early publicity implies a coming-of-age component, which could mutate the content into a superhero "Dawson's Creek". On the other hand, Fox has yet to stumble into sentimentality with the X-Men, and when it's grazed upon such, it's always sustained a rough edge: case in point, the recent "Logan" and "Deadpool". Also, if the show is to depict bigotry, superfluous softness would seem to go against the grain.
Perhaps "The Fugitive" motif, though arguably overused, will be the thing that keeps this offshoot in check. In order to attract and maintain the fan base, it's important that "The Gifted" not stray too far from either its comic-book or cinematic concepts. By tradition, most mutants are, to some degree or another, on the run and so...
"The Gifted" debuts Monday, October 2.
