Fox's The Gifted Unleashed Its Mutant-Filled First Trailer, Complete With X-Men Reference

By the time next year rolls comes to a close, there will be almost as enough Marvel Comics-based TV shows to support an entire channel, and if every new series comes out looking as good as Fox's The Gifted looks in this extended first trailer, then they can already start taking my subscription fees. After its initial mutant-ness was revealed, The Gifted tried to distance itself from being tagged an "X-Men series," and the namedrop in the trailer seems to reveal why it played out like that.

As it goes with most first trailers like this, The Gifted is offering up footage that comes entirely from its already-produced pilot episode, which was convincing enough for Fox to order it up for the fall season. And if this is to be one of the weaker episodes of the series, as pilots can often be, then viewers are in for the most X-Men-ish adventures that live-action TV has delivered yet. Partly because of the matter-maneuvering powers, of course, but also because of the imposing forces that want to take those with powers away from their already set-in-stone lives.

As seen in the trailer, True Blood's Stephen Moyer and Person of Interest's Amy Acker play the parents of a pair of children with unique abilities. Natalie Alyn Lind's Lauren and Percy Hynes White's Andy are certainly capable of making things happen once they're put under pressure, and that's what puts them in the crosshairs of the authorities. Which means the family has to go on the run, but at least there are others out there willing to help in the form of an underground community.

the gifted eclipse

Such as Jaimie Chung's teleporting Clarice "Blink" Fong, Emma Dumont's magnetism-controlling Lorna "Polaris" Dane, and Blair Redford's underground community leader John "Thunderbird" Proudstar. And, of course, the man seen above: Sean Teale's Marcos "Eclipse" Diaz, who was the one to drop the X-Men line.

The X-Men, the Brotherhood. We don't even know if they exist anymore!

No Stan Lee cameo in there as far as I could tell, but it's coming. Let's hope that there's enough of an X-Men legacy left out there to join the fight at some point, too. The Gifted doesn't yet have an exact premiere date locked down just yet, but you can be sure that we'll telepathically send it along to everyone when it gets announced by Fox. And if that doesn't work, just keep checking back, and for everything hitting the small screen in the meantime, head to our summer premiere schedule.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.