"Switched at Birth" alum Blair Redford has been cast as the first mutant on Fox's Marvel "X-Men" TV series. He is the first actor to officially join the big Marvel television series.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Redford will play the strong-headed Native American leader Sam of the underground network in the untitled "X-Men" TV series. He has had several TV roles, including a recurring role on "Switched at Birth" and a recurring role as another Native American character Ethan Whitehorse on "The Lying Game."
"X-Men" helmer Bryan Singer is on board to direct and executive produce the untitled X-Men pilot, Comic Book reported. He is known for directing four "X-Men" films. "Burn Notice" creator Matt Nix will write and executive produce along with a wonderful mixture of Marvel and 20th Century Fox talent such as Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, and Jim Chory.
The "X-Men" TV series is currently ordered as a pilot. It is a joint production between Fox and Marvel TV similar to the new Marvel drama series "Legion" that just debuted on FX, which is about the powerful mutant David, also known as the son of Professor X in "X-Men" comics. It is officially not being called an X-Men series.
The plot of the yet-to-be-titled "X-Men" TV series will focus on two ordinary human parents who discover their children possess mutant powers, which is probably one of the most interesting elements of Singer's "X2." The family is forced to go on the run from a hostile government and eventually join up with an underground network of mutants who must fight to survive. This network seems to be led by Redford's character Sam.
In the "X-Men" comics, Morlocks is a group of mutants who lived literally underground in the sewers of New York. Most of them had deformities or obvious mutations that would not allow them to live above ground among regular humans. They were traditionally led by a character named Callisto.
Meanwhile, Redford started on "The Young and the Restless" soap opera series, before appearing in the "90210" reboot. He had appearances in "Beauty and the Beast" and had some minor film roles. However, his career has been mostly in television thus far.
Watch the video about the first actor cast in Fox's "X-Men" TV series: