FOX went all out to promote their new series, The Gifted, at SDCC this year. From banners and branding to a unique off-site experience that determined whether or not you’re a mutant, they’re trying their hardest to get the word out! The show officially premiers on October 2nd and will kick off a ten episode season that we have high hopes will be renewed in quick order.
If you’re not familiar with the series, you can check out the official SDCC trailer below.
The series takes place in a sort of off-shoot timeline from the primary X-Men movie franchise. That shouldn’t particularly surprise fans, as the timeline is constantly shifting and certain stories pick and choose what they’d like to include.
The Gifted imagines a future where mutants have effectively been outlawed. At it’s core it follows the plight of the Strucker family. After their children Lauren and Andy are discovered to be mutants, ADA Reed Strucker and his wife, Caitlin, are forced to take them on the run from the authorities. It’s complicated, of course, by the fact that Reed himself has worked for years as a prosecutor enforcing the country’s anti-mutant laws.
Together, with some familiar mutant characters from the comics and some new characters designed specifically for the series, they’ve got to survive in a post X-Men world that’s not at all friendly to mutant kind.
Sounds like a great premise, right?
That’s how I feel about it! So you have to imagine I was pretty excited to get a chance to sit down with some of the cast SDCC this year. We got to talk with Stephen Moyer (Reed Strucker), Jamie Chung (Clarice Fong/Blink), Sean Teale (Marcos Diaz/Eclipse), Blair Redford (John Proudstar/Thunderbird), Natalie Alyn Lind (Lauren Strucker), and Percy Hynes White (Andy Strucker).
Stephen Moyer plays Reed Strucker, the father of the two mutant children central to the series’ initial conflict. He was drawn to the role because he liked the idea of playing an ordinary man without superpowers who is thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Reed Strucker’s character arc is particularly compelling, as he’s forced to go from a man of principles working for the government to someone who throws that all away and goes on the run.
He talked with us a little bit about his character’s motivations and a little about the story’s focus on mutantkind as this disenfranchised group in society. He also discussed what it was like working with Bryan Singer on the pilot.
Also, fun fact: Stephen Moyer was a Spider-Man fan as a kid! He was all about Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man back in the day.
Jamie Chung will be playing Blink, a character previously seen in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Not that this is her first foray into the Marvel Universe, as she previously appeared as a voice in Big Hero 6. Nor is this her first live action, television adaptation of a comic book character since she’s also worked on another FOX show, Gotham, as Vicki Vale. In short, she’s awesome and we’re really looking forward to seeing her version of Blink hit small screens in October.
She’s very excited about coming into the Marvel Universe again, this time as a character in a live action show. We got to talk a bit more about the series and Jamie really likes how this story is a more non-traditional X-Men story. It’s not about the X-Men saving the world but mutantkind simply struggling to survive. They don’t get to just use their powers — they have to control them and conceal them.
Blink is a really great character and Jamie definitely hopes to do her justice. She talked with us a little bit about the character and some of the research she’s done to prep for the role, including reading through the original Exiles comics.
You can watch the full interview above to hear more about Jamie’s thoughts on the series, her character, and working with Bryan Singer!
Sean Teale and Blair Redford are playing two of the mutant characters at the center of The Gifted. While Blair Redford is playing John Proudstar aka Thunderbird, Sean Teale’s character Eclipse is a brand-new character created for the show. We caught up with them at their first SDCC to talk about their characters and the show!
We learned a little bit more about how Thunderbird’s backstory is going to come into play in the story. Blair Redford did as much research as he could for the role and briefly mentioned that his character’s military background will come into play. His history as a former Marine may be getting altered or supplemented with some time spent in the Special Forces. And it will definitely be a big part of the character as they fight back against the government.
Sean Teale didn’t have the benefit of an extensive character background to explore since his character, Eclipse, doesn’t exist in the comics. While he wishes he could have had more of that structure and history in the comics like many of the other actors, he is looking forward to having that freedom to bring Eclipse to life. When someone suggested Eclipse might show up in the comics someday he said that would be a huge compliment. Considering it happened for Phil Coulson, it may not be a stretch, Sean!
The guys talked a bit about joining the X-Men franchise, auditioning, working with Bryan Singer and more. You can hear all of it in the video above!
Our introduction to The Gifted world comes through Natalie Alyn Lind and Percy Hynes White’s characters Lauren and Andy Strucker. Everything sort of kicks off after an incident at school where Andy essentially levels the place after being bullied during a school dance. And shortly thereafter their family has to go underground to hide from the government.
The show has some very emotional moments and Natalie told us that it’s a pretty emotional story. At it’s core it’s a show about family. The Struckers are a huge part of the show and having their children revealed to be mutants changes everything for them. Natalie went even further to talk about how hard it is to be a mutant and a teenage girl and how the show really reflects some real world struggles people face every day.
Percy pointed out that in the pilot they deal with the everyday struggles of bullying just as much as they do people being repressed by their government.
Our time with Natalie Alyn Lind and Percy Hynes White was a bit shorter than with everyone else but we still got to talk about quite a bit. We talked about what made them interested in the project in the first place, what it was like to work with Bryan Singer, and more! You can see the full interview in the video above.
Don’t forget to check out The Gifted when it premieres on October 2nd!
And keep checking back with us for more coverage because we’re very excited for The Gifted. As huge fans of the X-Men film franchise and FX’s recent series, Legion, we can’t wait to see what they do with this show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzW9rMcbzk
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