The X-Men TV Universe Is Expanding

Developed for television by Matt Nix, creator of Burn Notice, the site describes the potential untitled series as being about "two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive."

Previously, the X-Men, and intolerance towards mutants, was viewed as an analogy to gays, but as of late it seems to have taken on the anti-immigrant sentiment that has become more prevalent by many.

While Nix couldn't say much about the new show at TCA, he did relate that the series would connect to the big screen X-Men films. "A fan of the movies," he explained, "particularly the movies but also the comic books, would not be disoriented at all as to where this fits in the mythology. I guess I'd say that if you look at the movies, which started in 2000 and run to now, they don't all line up perfectly. So I'm not slavishly fitting myself into a particular slot, but at the same time, if you like that world, if you like the world of the movies, there are definite nods to it. It definitely exists in the same general kind of universe, if that makes sense."

Elsewhere on the mutant front, Noah Hawley, creator of Legion (which debuts 8 February), has made it pretty clear in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the show will not be crossing over with any other films or series any time soon, as Legion needs to "stand on its own two feet."

In terms of what's driving him creatively, Hawley says it's the genre's sense of inventiveness and wonder. As an example, he points to the 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica, "where the Cylons were driven by a belief in God — that was a profoundly eye-opening idea and allowed that show to look at religion in a completely different way. There's an inventiveness when you can use the genre elements to heighten certain themes of character crisis." On Legion, there will be plenty of that to go around.

• The X-Men TV Series: 10 Possible Plotlines

• Fox Planning Live-Action X-Men TV Series

The Defenders: New Photos Released Online

Superhero team-ups usually bring the fun, whether it’s The Avengers or DC’s television crossover events, but that word may not be apropos for Netflix’s The Defenders, this summer’s event series bringing together Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Each of those shows epitomize the word grit, and there’s little to suggest that joining the heroes up will lighten the proceedings. So, cool? Yes. Fun? We’ll see. But what is fun is getting our first look at images from the show courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Sigourney Weaver is the show’s big bad, Alexandra, and she is the one that the combined efforts of the four heroes will be needed to take down. Describing the character as an “utter badass,” showrunner Marco Ramirez offers, “[Sigourney’s] character is a very powerful force in New York City. She’s everything Sigourney is: sophisticated, intellectual, dangerous.”

Simone Missick reprises her Luke Cage role of police officer Misty Knight. Here’s she’s seen with Krysten Ritter, who is back as Jessica Jones (which will be getting a second season, though when hasn’t been announced as of yet).

In the finale of season one of Luke Cage, Mike Colter in the title role decided to return to prison to serve out the rest of his sentence. This image from The Defenders either represents Cage’s initial return or the moment when he’s about to break out again to help take down Alexandera.

Last summer, Empire spoke to executive producer Jeph Loeb, who admitted that the expectation was that people who had seen one of the Netflix series had seen at least one or two of the others, but that it wasn’t something they could count on. As a result, The Defenders needs to feel like it’s of its own world.

“But make no mistake about it,” he said, “there is an engine that is driving towards that story. If you’ve been with us and you’ve watched, so far, the next question is, what happens when they meet? That's the part that’s interesting to us. It’s not who’s the big bad or how are their powers going to work or what’s the action sequence that we’re going to figure out. It’s these are four people who have very different ways of looking at their lives. Now let’s put them together and see what happens.”

• Marvel's The Defenders: Jephh Loeb On The Netflix Crossover Series

• Netflix's The Defenders Will Run To Only Eight Episodes

Gemma Arterton Boosts Morale With A Movie In The Trailer For Their Finest

For her latest look at British life, Lone Scherfig is in World War II territory, following a young woman (Gemma Arterton) struggling to find her voice as she helps with propaganda films in London. Watch the first trailer for Their Finest below. Sam Claflin And Lily James Enjoy Their Finest Hour And A Half First Still From Their Finest Hour And A Half

Adapted from Lissa Evans' novel Their Finest Hour And A Half, the new film has been a while in the making, first touted back in 2014. Arterton here takes over for Lily James as Catrin, who is recruited to help with the creation of a film in 1940 to lift the flagging nation's sprits and inspire America to enter the conflict.

But while she sees it as a chance, she faces the fact that she's mostly there to handle what the male writers term "the slop" – or female characters' dialogue. Soon, though, Catrin is proving her ability to likes of fellow writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) and fading matinee idol Ambrose Hillard (Bill Nighy) as they try to create something that will provide a ray of hope in a time of darkness.

Gaby Chiappe was on script duty for this one, with Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, Jack Huston and Richard E. Grant also in the cast. Their Finest will arrive on 21 April.

Into The Badlands Season 2 Trailer, Images And Premiere Date

The network sums up the premise best: "Centuries from now, a feudal society has emrged in the wake of civilization's destruction. This area is now called the Badlands and is uneasily divided among seven barons. Each baron enforces their iron rule with the aid of loyal armies of trained assassins known as Clippers."

That's where things started, but one of those Clippers, Sunny (played by Daniel Wu, recently announced as part of the Tomb Raider reboot), decided to go rogue and has stirred up all sorts of things — though, based on the trailer, it hasn't necessarily gone the way he imagined.

At the end of season one, Sunny was captured by the River King (Lance E. Nichols) and sold into slavery, which is where things pick up. Needless to say, it's only a matter of time before he fights his way to freedom, but what is made apparent is that the action is going to be coming from a number of other characters as well, notably Emily Beecham as The Widow and Stephen Lang as Waldo. Nick Frost (Santa Claus on Doctor Who!) has joined the cast.

Into The Badlands is created and executive produced by Al Gough and Miles Millar (the creators of Smallville), who are currently overseeing season two of The Shannara Chronicles in New Zealand. Gough shares his enthusiasm for the new year of Into The Badlands with Empire, noting, "We are so excited about season two. We take the audience deeper into the Badlands and really open up the world. Our characters will meet new barons, new threats and new allies as their journey continues....including Nick Frost, who is absolutely brilliant. His mix of humor and humanity make the show soar as much as any martial arts move. And he kicks ass as well!"

In the UK, Into The Badlands is shown on Amazon Prime Video

Daniel Wu Joins The Tomb Raider Reboot

Walton Goggins Will Be Tomb Raider's New Villain Alicia Vikander Is Tomb Raider's New Lara Croft New Writer For Tomb Raider Reboot

Wu, who stars on US TV drama Into The Badlands and played warlike Orc mage Gul'dan in last year's Warcraft has boarded the movie as Lu Ren, a ship's captain who joins Croft's quest to find her father and clear his name.

The new movie, which has been in development for some time, sets the clock back to Lara's younger days, as the 21-year-old Croft sets off on her first big adventure. Norwegian director Roar Uthaug is calling the shots and Walton Goggins – who posted a picture of the script, by Geneva Robertson-Dworet to Instagram, will be the villain.

This latest outing is expected in cinemas on 16 March next year.

Hidden Figures Leads The US Box Office

Empire's Monster Trucks review Read our La La Land review

There's no chance of another shocker this weekend, as Figures added a host of new screens and is well ahead of its nearest competitor. La La Land, which is building a real head of steam with awards voters, itself widened its release schedule and jumped from fifth place to second with $14.5 million. In the States, the musical has made $74 million from a run that started in just a few cinemas, while worldwide it has crossed the $128.8 million mark. In related musical news, animated warbling comedy Sing stayed exactly where it was, clinging like a koala to third place and adding $13.8 million for a $233 million US total to date.

Former champion Rogue One: A Star Wars Story fell to fourth from that surprise second place finish, earning $13.7 million. And fifth was the first of this week's truly new entries, as horror movie The Bye Bye Man said hello to $13.3 million.

Boston bombing drama Patriots Day expanded into many more screens, but could only manage sixth place and $12 million. You could argue that it has been out for four weeks, but then La La Land has been in cinemas for six. Seventh place went to one of the misfiring new arrivals as Monster Trucks landed seventh with a disappointing $10.5 million. Paramount took the unusual step of considering this one a write-down (AKA a loss) before it even came out, and some mixed reviews didn't help its chances.

Still, it was more successful than new Jamie Foxx crime drama Sleepless, a remake that had almost no trailers or advertising beyond a few posters in the US and crashed into eighth with $8.4 million. Faltering franchise entry Underworld: Blood Wars sank again, dropping to ninth from fourth and $5.8 million, while Passengers dipped to 10th on $5.6 million. One additional note: Ben Affleck's latest directorial effort, gangster drama Live By Night failed to live much at all, expanding from its Christmas Day limited release to a disappointing $5.4 million in 11th.

24: Legacy — New Trailer Released

“The headline of the show is: What does it mean to be American?" executive producer Howard Gordon offered at the annual TCA. "As a black soldier coming from war? As a high-powered woman who runs the CTU [as Mirando Otto's Rebecca Ingram does]? As a Hispanic candidate running for president [as Jimmy Smits' John Donovan is]? What does it mean to be an American?"

As to the creation of a follow-up to Sutherland's character, he added, "Jack Bauer casts a long shadow. It was essential that we reverse engineered [a character] with the broadest possible strokes that distinguished him from Jack Bauer. It wasn't about, 'Let's cast a black guy or a Hispianic guy.' It was very much, 'Who is this character?"

Answering that question for himself, Hawkins actually turned to Sutherland, noting to the TCA reporters, "We actually talked extensively. The gist of it is that he's super pumped. He was almost more pumped than I was about it, and he's really excited about this new idea.... [24] is really challenging. It's different than any kind of television show, because every single second is captured on film. Every single second of the day. His sort of insight was to just let it surprise you, and let it continue to evolve and not to have so much control over it in that collaboration with your writers and producers, because you get the opportunity for the character to surprise you."

24: Legacy debuts 5 February on Fox in the US, and 14 February on Fox in the UK.

• Every TV Show You Need To Watch In 2017

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The Walking Dead: Rick And Co. Prepare To Fight In New Photos

text Read Empire's Reviews for The Walking Dead Season 7 The Walking Dead's 20 Most Shocking Deaths

Of course, their efforts to battle Negan's tight control on his people, his resources and the fact that he'll maim or kill people without conscience have hampered their resistance so far, and they've been pursuing their efforts largely alone. But can they fare any better if they manage to recruit help from Hilltop, The Kingdom and maybe even Oceanside?

We'll see how it pans out, and the show could certainly use a jolt of hope after a season of nearly unremitting darkness and pain that has seen viewership drop (slightly – it still gets big ratings) and complaints rise. It also seems certain we'll learn more about Negan's backstory and who he was before he picked up a baseball bat and decided that she – because if he won't stop going on about it, why should we – would look better with barbed wire wrapped around it.

The Walking Dead returns to our screens on February 19, airing on AMC in the States via Fox TV here in the UK.

Alice Lowe Is Feeling Murderously Pregnant In The Prevenge Poster

Son Of Sam meets Jekyll & Hyde with a touch of... Bridget Jones's Baby? It's an unusual cocktail to be sure, but then Prevenge, the directorial debut of Sightseers' Alice Lowe, is anything but ordinary. Check out the poster... New Trailer For Alice Lowe's Prevenge Sightseers' Alice Lowe Prepares For Prevenge Empire's Films To Look For In 2017

Shot while Lowe herself was heavily pregnant, it's the story of widow Ruth (Lowe), who starts to believe she's being guided by her unborn baby on a homicidal rampage, killing off anyone who is in her way. And it's a bloody comedy, to boot.

"People automatically assume you’re a lovely person because you’re pregnant... I wanted to write something which defied that image of the pregnant woman as this safe, sweet, kind person…" Lowe said shortly before starting work on the film. "I felt like motherhood is a crazy, interesting experience and it’s rarely seen on screen. Pregnancy could be a very alien, existential experience and we don’t show it on screen in those terms. I wanted to defy people’s expectations of what that character was and could be, and get some humour out of it.”

With Jo Hartley, Tom Davis, Eilieen Davis, Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak and Gemma Whelan among the cast, the film opens on 10 February, but you have a chance to see Lowe and the movie at a preview Q&A tour that kicks off this week. Head to the Prevenge site for more details.

Exclusive Voltron: Legendary Defender Clip

A new take on the Voltron anime series roared on to our TVs via Netflix last year. And now a second season is about to land. To mark the occasion, we have an exclusive clip.

The basic setup for the show is familiar to anyone who has seen Voltron before (or the likes of Star Fleet or even Power Rangers): five unsuspecting teenagers are transported from Earth into the middle of a sprawling intergalactic war and become pilots for five robotic lions in the battle to protect the universe from evil. Only through the true power of teamwork can they unite to form the mighty warrior known as... Jeremy! Sorry... Voltron. The clue really is in the title there.

Voltron's voice cast includes the likes of Kimberly Brooks as Princess Allura; Rhys Darby as Coran; Josh Keaton as Shiro, Black Lion; Tyler Labine as Hunk, Yellow; Jeremy Shada as Lance, Blue Lion; Bex Taylor-Klaus as Pidge, Green Lion; and The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun as Keith, Red Lion. In the final episode of Season One, the team's lion ships are lost in a malfunctioning wormhole, and must find their way home...

Season Two kicks off on Netflix on 20 January.

• Justice League Dark: Exclusive Clip And Matt Ryan Interview

David Goyer And Justin Rhodes Writing Green Lantern Corps Movie

Empire's Guide To The Green Lantern Green Lantern Review

While the movie will once again feature the Hal Jordan character as brought to life by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 misfire, the scope is being widened out to include African American Marine sniper John Stewart, one of the other comic book incarnations of the Lantern. Odds are somewhere between slim and abso-bloody-lutely never as to whether Reynolds – particularly now he has Deadpool's success in his pocket – would want (or be wanted) to don the green suit again, and if he did it at all, it'd probably just be fuel for future jokes. Expect to see a new face playing Jordan.

Goyer is no stranger to the DC movie universe after working on Batman V Superman (though that in itself is a concern), whilst Rhodes has been making a name for himself working on various projects in development, including a new Fantastic Voyage movie that had Goyer as a producer. According to Deadline, the pair has come up with a new take on the Lantern story that combines Stewart's story with Jordan's for what is being described as Lethal Weapon in space.

The plan is reportedly to get the script in shape quickly, and then lock in a director and cast. You might wonder why the company would return to this seemingly poisoned chalice so quickly at a time when the DC Movies are still not performing the way Warners might prefer (at least critically), but perhaps the team, which includes DC boss Geoff Johns, think they're on to something this time.

As for the DC Extended Universe itself, the next entry will be Wonder Woman, due on 2 June.

Better Call Saul Returns In April

After dropping big hints about the return of Gustavo Fring for the new, third season of Breaking Bad Spin-Off Better Call Saul, American network home AMC has now confirmed that the show will return on 10 April. To celebrate that fact, a first clip has surfaced, though be warned that it represents a minor spoiler. Read Our Review Of Better Call Saul Season 2 Episode 2 Gus Fring Is Back In A New Better Call Saul Video

The clip shows that while things are better than you might expect for wayward lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), not everything is rosy in his world after he was threatened with blackmail by brother Chuck (Michael McKean). And as his workload is dumped on Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), their relationship is feeling the strain...

While Giancarlo Esposito's Gus isn't in the clip, the network confirmed his return at the Television Critics Association winter press tour this weekend by having the actor emerge – in character – into assembled journalists and start handing out his trademark Los Pollos Hermanos fried chicken. Given how much we enjoyed the last season, we're definitely ready to have Jimmy and the rest back, and to see the early days of his dangerous association with Gus. Better Call Saul will be back in the UK via Netflix the day after episodes air in the States.