The Gifted X-Men Series Social Relevancy

When Fox's The Gifted premieres in October, it will bring fans into the world of the Mutant Underground via a family shaken by the revelation that their children are mutants. At Comic-Con International, actors Sean Teale (Incorporated) and Blair Redford (Satisfaction) weighed in on the series, specifically explaining how their characters (Eclipse and Thunderbird) fit into this world, what it was like working with director Bryan Singer, how socially relevant the show is, and where it falls in relation to the film timeline.

Speaking with the press, Teale, who plays Marco Ramirez (aka Eclipse), was asked about how the show will follow in its comic book inspiration's footsteps and reflect modern society's issues. "People keep asking why X-Men is still relevant and why it deals with social issues. I think the reason why is because of its conception. Magneto and Charles Xavier were made, that was Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. If that’s the way that this concept was conceived, then that’s going to emanate throughout the mythology later on.

"In this show, we have that same thing," Teale continued. "These civil rights issues and these people who aren’t superheroes, who don't don super suits or magic jets or save the world. They are human beings that are persecuted for doing nothing other than being themselves. They’ve been bestowed this X-gene that they did not ask for. We’re dealing with issues that exist on the planet already. That persecution of age, weight, gender, sexuality or disability is relevant on our show because they don’t have a choice. It’s human beings being persecuted for being nothing other than themselves and coming together and trying to fight for their rights as people. I think that’s quite relevant."

Asked what drew him to the series, Tease responded, "the world -- the characters not only live in this world but are derived from this world. They are molded and poked and prodded and manipulated by the world that they live in and the circumstances that they are in. What’s interesting is how these people are going to react. Not only do they have this thing that they don’t know if they control yet, they live in a world where people resent them and they resent themselves.

"Why wouldn’t you want to play someone that’s trying to do good in the world when the world is trying not to do good by them," Teale asked before alluding to the fact that some mutant freedom fighters like himself might compromise their altruistic intentions as they push back against Sentinel Services. "How far can these people go before they jeopardize what they believe in? We’ve all seen people crack and change because of that, so it’s really fun to have that dynamic happen. I think Thunderbird and Polaris -- through this underground network -- their relationship does fracture. Thunderbird has this way of thinking, which in my opinion is a good one, Polaris has another. Eclipse gets torn between the two opposing factors, and that’s really fun to play. Who doesn’t want to play in these extreme situations of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances?"

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Thunderbird, Bryan Synger and Multiple Timelines

Redford, who plays John Proudstar (aka Thunderbird) then shared what drew him to the series. "What I was drawn to about Thunderbird -- I didn’t even know who I was reading for when I first auditioned, they obviously kept it very secret -- but what I was drawn to is Thunderbird, this guy has superhuman strength, which has been portrayed before on Netflix shows. He has this other power, which is foresight, where he senses, he’s a tracker, it made it him a little more well rounded. Any character I look at, I try to examine what their origin story is, what their history is and I thought with Thunderbird, there’s so much to dive into. He’s got this Apache background, this tracker background. He’s ex-military. There’s a lot of stuff to go off of, and his brother Warpath, there’s a lot of deep stuff to dive into. That made it interesting for me."

RELATED: SDCC: Fox's The Gifted Panel

Redford also shared how much he enjoyed working with the X-Men's live-action architect, director Bryan Singer. "It was incredible. Right off the bat when I heard he was attached, you know you are getting a pillar of the X-Men franchise helming the project. We felt like we were in great hands. His instincts are incredible. He’s an encyclopedia of X-Men knowledge. What I found amazing working with him too, as a director, is he’s always cutting and editing in his head, so it’s an interesting process where his understanding of the franchise and the mutant powers -- he has such a strong grasp. We’ll be shooting something that normally might take a discussion to figure out, he’s cut the scene in his head. He'll say 'that power doesn’t quite look this way it won’t work out this way.' He’s just a good leader when it comes to this project."

As for how The Gifted connects to the larger X-Men film universe, Redford immediately went to the multiple realities explanation. "Our creator, Matt Nix, has tried to explain that because of Days of Future Past, multiple timelines now exist," he said. According to Teale, the X-Men and Mutant Brotherhood once existed in The Gifted's timeline, but "the Sentinel Services are so successful at what they do," Mutants are now in hiding.

Developed by Burn Notice creator Matt Nix, The Gifted follows two ordinary parents who discover their children possess extraordinary powers. Forced to go on the run from the government, they join an underground network of mutants and must fight for their survival.

Premiering Monday, Oct. 2, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the joint production of Fox and Marvel Television stars Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker, Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz/Eclipse, Coby Bell as Jace Turner, Emma Dumont cast as Lorna Dane/Polaris, Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong and Blair Redford as John Proudstar/Thunderbird, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker and Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker.