X-Men Spin-Off TV Show Gets Pilot Order

The X-Men TV show is happening. It has been confirmed that a pilot has been ordered for the series, which will focus on young mutants who go on the run with their parents to escape government agents.

The show has been in development for some time, and head writer Matt Nix has spoken about his plans for it over the past few weeks. As Variety reports, Fox and Marvel TV are now officially moving forward with a pilot.

At the recent Television Critics Association's winter press tour, Nix explained that the new show would connect directly to the X-Men movie universe. "A fan of the movies but also the comics would not be disoriented at all as to where this fits in the mythology," he said. "If you look at the movies, which take place from--they started in 2003 to now--they don't all line up perfectly. I'm not slavishly fitting them into a particular slot.

"But at the same time, if you like the world of the movies, there are definite nods to the movies. It exists in the same general universe."

Nix also stated that fans could also expect to see some familiar X-Men in there. "There are a certain amount of [familiar] characters that I can use and am using and then other characters I'm inventing," he said. "But everything is invented with a nod toward the existing mythology."

One familiar set of characters that fans can expect are Sentinels. Last week, X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner explained that while Sentinels would be part of the show, they might not be the giant robots familiar to X-Men fans. "Matt's show is part of the [X-Men] world in terms of there are mutants, mutants are hated, and there are Sentinels--though very different from what we've seen before," she said.

The new show isn't Fox's first attempt at an X-Men series. In 2015 it was reported that the network was developing a show called Hellfire, but this was later abandoned in place of the new series. Another X-Men related show--Legion--is set to premiere on FX next month.