LEGION
SEASON 3

RENEWED IN 2018, ANNOUNCED AS THE LAST IN 2019

HOW THE THIRD SEASON REACHED FX

FX renewed the series for a third season in June 2018. On 5 February 2019, FX chief John Landgraf announced at the Television Critics Association press tour that the third season would be the last. Its eight episodes aired weekly, from “Chapter 20” on 24 June 2019 to “Chapter 27” on 12 August 2019.

THREE ACTS

WHY HAWLEY ENDED THE SERIES

Hawley told reporters at the same press tour that he had always thought of the series “as a complete story with a beginning, middle and end,” and that “it felt like three acts of a story so this just felt like the natural place to end it.” He added a broader view of endings:

“I think endings are what give stories meaning.”

Noah Hawley, February 2019

REWRITING THE PAST

WHAT THE SEASON IS ABOUT

The season follows David Haller, now off his medication, as he recruits the time-travelling mutant Switch to rewrite the past, while his former friends, including Syd and Division 3, hunt him. The Shadow King, Amahl Farouk, becomes a central antagonist in the past, and Harry Lloyd joined as Charles Xavier, announced in February 2019. Lauren Tsai plays Switch, and was cast in January 2019.

Hawley said on 13 August 2019 that the finale was built around a conversation rather than a battle, because “the only way to change the future is to change people’s minds and their hearts.”

THE CORE CAST HOLDS

WHO IS IN THE CAST

The cast includes Dan Stevens as David Haller, Rachel Keller as Syd Barrett, Aubrey Plaza as Lenny Busker, Bill Irwin as Cary Loudermilk, Navid Negahban as Amahl Farouk, Jeremie Harris as Ptonomy Wallace, Amber Midthunder as Kerry Loudermilk, Lauren Tsai as Switch and Hamish Linklater as Clark Debussy. Jean Smart and Jemaine Clement appear as special guests in “Chapter 25.”

THE REWATCH

A 93% CRITICS SCORE AND A SMALL AUDIENCE

Rotten Tomatoes lists a 93% critics’ score from 71 reviews and an 89% audience score, and its consensus calls the show “visually arresting, mind-bending television.” Metacritic gives the season 72 from six critics. Some critics faulted the pacing of the last two episodes, and the premiere drew 0.377 million viewers.

In the Marvel Marathon it is catalogued as an X-Men release and sits in the Marvel TV shows in order guide between Jessica Jones Season 3 and The Daily Bugle Season 1, and in the X-Men movies in order guide between X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants. It is not in the MCU guides.