As a series that revolves around a psychiatric hospital patient with psychic powers, FX's upcoming Legion will include numerous visual effects and trippy scenes. So it was only natural for the network to promote the new series—inspired by the Marvel Comics character of the same name—with a number of visually unique art installations.
FX's immersive "Legion Where?House" exhibit came to Villain in Brooklyn from January 27 to 29, offering Marvel fans and those curious a chance to experience a number of interactive installations inspired by the series, which is set in the X-Men universe. The network commissioned artists to interpret different scenes from show.
"We saw the creativity they put toward the show and we wanted to do something that was also unique in marketing a show based on a comic book. The way it's shot and presented felt very exciting and fresh," said Kenya Hardaway, vice president of integrated promotions for FX. "Visually it's stunning. The artistic presentation of the show warranted an artistic element to promote it. It was a great opportunity for us to utilize art to help promote the series and get people excited."
While this isn't the first time FX incorporated art installations into marketing efforts and events, Hardaway says the network has never before had artists apply themes of what they saw in a show into their work. "This is the first time we have truly encouraged artists to view the content and be inspired by it to create the art," said Hardaway. "We commissioned artists to dive into Legion with us, interpret what they were seeing, and reimagine it as art into their own medium."
The experiential marketing initiative wasn't just limited to the three-day exhibit. The series' key art mural, which incorporated augmented reality through an app called Blippar, was featured in Brooklyn, Manhattan, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
"A lot of themes in Legion lend themselves well to augmented reality," said Hardaway. "This is an amazing way to bring those elements into the real world and have people interact with them."
Additionally, fans had a chance to take home free limited-edition posters of the mural from 56 participating comic book stores in the United States. The eight-episode first season of Legion, which was created by Noah Hawley and stars Dan Stevens, premieres on February 8.
