The 2017 Aubrey Plaza role written for a middle-aged man: “I am many things”
Aubrey Plaza had an unusual entry into the world of superheroes.
It wasn’t long after her breakthrough role on the sitcom Parks and Recreation that she started getting more career opportunities, as her expressive, downbeat sense of humour is something that any filmmaker would want to weaponise. The issue that many television stars find in transitioning to cinema is not being offered roles that are nearly as versatile or as exciting as being in a mainstream comedy, and Plaza is clearly above being in a generic studio programmer like Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.
Although television was once thought to be a lesser medium, the 2010s saw a shift in which streaming networks and prestige channels were doing exciting and innovative work, which would often involve real filmmakers. HBO may have had the monopoly on high-end television, but FX has proven to be a worthy competitor thanks to shows like The Shield and The Americans.
FX was a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, which was, in 2017, still an independent media conglomerate that had the rights to franchises like X-Men, and so decided to develop a television series that was set in its own continuity, separate from the film franchise. Legion was based on a relatively obscure run of Marvel Comics that focused on the character David Haller, played by Dan Stevens in the series, who has been told his entire life that he is schizophrenic, but he really has different mutant personalities that exist within his head.
One of David’s friends that he meets in a psychiatric ward is Lenny, an alcoholic played by Plaza. Although Lenny is graphically dismembered within the pilot episode, she returns to haunt David within his subconscious and provide him with advice as he ventures out to meet other mutants. The part was originally written for a middle-aged man, but that didn’t dissuade Plaza from taking it on.
“I am many things, and an old man is one of them,” Plaza said.
Legion felt like a breath of fresh air within a landscape of superhero television shows that were floundering. The DC shows on CW had become so interconnected and complicated that one had to watch The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl just to keep up with the timeline, and although Marvel’s Netflix shows offered promise early on with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, the disappointments of Iron Fist and The Defenders began to weigh down the shared universe of ‘street-level’ heroes.
Legion wasn’t concerned about fitting into a broader continuity and had its own eccentric sense of humour that included lavish costumes, musical numbers, and even animated segments. At the same time, it also offered representation for mental illness that was surprisingly thoughtful, as Plaza and Stevens in particular were able to develop a compelling on-screen partnership.
The show ended after three consistently great seasons and reached a satisfying conclusion that wrapped up just as Fox was folded into the Walt Disney Company. Although it is unlikely that something so mature, avant-garde, and thought-provoking would ever be made in the Marvel universe today, Plaza did get to work within the MCU when she earned a supporting role in the Disney+ series Agatha All Along, a spinoff of WandaVision that starred Kathryn Hahn as the witch Agatha Harkness.
