If fans of the X-Men want to have a good time watching the mutants kick ass and take names in live-action, there hasn't really been anywhere to go beyond the big screen, since past efforts to bring the Marvel super squad to TV haven't worked out so well. But that's all changing soon with the arrival of Fox's still-untitled X-Men pilot, which has franchise vet Bryan Singer behind the camera. And Singer shared some particularly interesting info about the cameo-friendly comic book icon Stan Lee.
Hells yeah! Marvel projects aren't exactly defined by their Stan Lee cameos or anything, but those particular easter eggs are what makes those comic book movies a little different from everything else out there. But there hasn't been that same kind of brand consistency with Marvel's TV projects, especially on the Netflix side of things, so it's awesome that there was relatively zero wait time to discover Lee's involvement with this new project. All hail Bryan Singer's Instagram.
It does make sense that Stan Lee, even at his health-sensitive age, would make the effort to show up in what could be the first live-action X-Men project on TV, since he was a major force in their creation. And perhaps it would have been more questionable without the involvement of Bryan Singer, who has worked on two other Lee cameos while helming four of the six X-Men features. Lee and project developer Matt Nix don't have the same kind of working relationship, although it would have been pretty sweet to see the comic creator getting fresh with Sharon Gless on Burn Notice.
As far as Stan Lee's TV work goes, we only have two live-action cameos to go with. (Unless you count his very first Marvel appearance for the TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk.) He was in a Season 1 episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., titled "T.R.A.C.K.S." and then later showed up in the quasi-spinoff Agent Carter, for the episode "The Blitzkrieg Button." Both of those were major network series on ABC, which possibly had something to do with why he showed up in person. Over on the streaming side at Netflix, Lee has only shown up on screen via photograph, though we're certainly hoping it was all a big lead-up to a major cameo in the upcoming Defenders miniseries.
True Blood vet Stephen Moyer is at the head of Fox's X-Men pilot, which is tentatively being referred to as Gifted, and he'll be joined by actors familiar faces like Jamie Chung, Amy Acker, Coby Bell and Natalie Alyn Lind. The project focuses on two parents whose lives get turned upside down when its discovered their children have mutant powers, which makes them targets for the government. Thankfully for all involved, a secret mutant resistance is out there, and the central family teams up with the rebels to fight back.
There's still no sign just yet for when fans will get to hear more about the fate of Fox's X-Men project, but we'll be tuned into Cerebro to see if we can find anything new. In the meantime, head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to see what else is hitting the small screen soon.
