X-Men Spin-off Legion casts Rachel Keller in Lead Role

The FX network pilot for Legion has found its leading lady in Rachel Keller.

The actress, known for her breakout role as Simone Gerhardt in the network’s critically acclaimed second season of Fargo, will play a “scrappy, optimistic young woman in her 20s” in the X-Men spin-off, according to Deadline.

The show will follow David Haller, the son of X-Men’s prolific founder Charles Xavier, and the man who would become known as Legion. After having been diagnosed with schizophrenia at an early age, Haller found himself in and out of hospitals for a large part of his life. Things begin to change for him, however, after a strange encounter with one of the patients during his most recent hospital visit. That meeting forces Haller to question whether the things he has been hearing and seeing for years really are just in his head.

Not many details have been revealed about Keller’s character, although there have been rumors about her powers being related to physical touch. It has lead many to infer that the character could be a possible incarnation of Rogue and Spyke.

The series comes from a joint partnership between FX Productions and Marvel Television. Fargo creator Noah Hawley will serve as an executive producer and write the Legion pilot. The series’ other notable executive producers include Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men: Days of Future Past , Wolverine), Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Superman Returns), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian) and Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb (Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil).