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So, as it happens from time to time, inspiration struck me t'other day while I was browsing through deviant Art. I wasn't looking for anything in particular and I stumbled across a drawing by French artist, Edwin Boyer of a superteam he'd created on the model of the X-Men called The Uncanny. You can see it here:
Like the proverbial thunderbolt, it struck me how awesomely wonderful a title he'd come up with, if he'd just lose the "The". From there, it started the old engine revving. UNCANNY. So, as I usually do, I tested the idea out on my friend, Jeff Valentine and we kicked the idea around a bit. A weekly TV series like Heroes, Supernatural or Smallville. UNCANNY.
Here's the pitch: Charles Xavier is a young psychologist working in New York treating the most difficult patients, with results that have begun to make him famous in certain circles. He knows he is a "mutant" and he knows he's not the only one, but he doesn't quite yet know what he ought to be doing for mutants like himself. He's wary of trusting others with his secret, because of events in his not too distant past.
Back story . . . As a graduate student, Charles Xavier was approached by an elderly eastern European man calling himself Erik Lehnsherr who revealed that he knew of Charles's mutant powers. He had identified Xavier some time before and observation had led him to conclude that Xavier must be telepathic. Lehnsherr did not reveal his own abilities at that time, preferring instead to make Xavier believe he was a scientist studying the phenomenon. Lehnsherr proved difficult for the unskilled Xavier to probe, and his actions and demeanor were such that Xavier's sympathies were aroused, causing him to trust the old man. When Lehnsherr began explaining his research, Xavier corrected him in his use of the term "mutant":
Erik: It is what they will call you, boy, when they march you off to the ovens!
It was then that Erik revealed himself to be a holocaust survivor. He explained that he wanted to even the playing field, so that mutants would never have to fear such persecution. Xavier believed that Lehnsherr's intention was to somehow pave the way for an orderly integration of mutants into  human society, believing that fear always arises out of ignorance. Months go by and Lehnsherr's frustration with his work begins to take its toll. His experiments aren't yielding the results he wants and he finally has to bring Xavier, a better trained scientist than himself, fully up to speed on his work. Lehnsherr reveals that he has been experimenting on another mutant, attempting to engineer a means of transferring his abilities to another. His experiments have been carried out on a genetically-modified clone of himself, dubbed "Alpha". It is slender, it's head is somewhat enlarged, it is strangely beautiful. The source of the genetic material transfer is a mutant of indeterminate age, 5-foot six-inches tall, stocky built, and hairy. He is strapped to a steel slab, unable to move. He has been subjected to innumerable surgical invasions of his body, tissue biopsies, amputations, excisions. His ability to regenerate is a marvel to the old man. Logan has been driven quite mad, by the pain. Xavier is appalled. Outraged, he lashes out at Lehnsherr with a mindblast and begins smashing equipment. Lahnsherr defends himself, exhibiting his mutant power for the first time. In grand Hollywood fashion, sparking machinery touches off some volatile chemicals in Lehnsherr's decidely makeshift lab, causing explosions. Lehnsherr moves to protect Alpha, when a blast tears through that part of the lab, shattering Alpha's container and seemingly immolating both. Logan's restraints are damaged in the blast, a feral, snarling Wolverine finally tears free from his bonds and runs off into the nearby woods. Xavier is thrown across the lab by the explosion that killed Lehnsherr, part of a wall falls on him and a ruptured water pipe sprays over him, preventing fire from reaching him. His spine is crushed by the falling masonry and he is pinned under the rubble.
Present day . . . Xavier is called in to see a patient who is hearing voices. She has not responded to medication and her parents tell him that he is their last resort, before placing their daughter, Jean, into an institution. In treating the girl, he realizes that she is not hearing voices from inside her mind, but from outside, she is telepathic. During his therapeutic mind probes, he recognizes something in the structure of her mind, it resonates with his own. She is also a mutant. It is from here that he gets the idea for Cerebro. The first Cerebro is nothing more than a very stealthy search engine, used to access medical records looking for a particular anomaly in PET scans of the brain. As stealthy as it is, his search engine trips an alarm when it accesses medical records from Bethesda Naval Hospital and Special Agent Fred Duncan is assigned to trace the hacker responsible. Anyone remember Fred Duncan, from X-Men #2? Anyway, Duncan has been collecting a file of strange cases, some of which coincide with records accessed on the hospital computers. This leads Duncan to Xavier who, by now, is coming to the conclusion that there are more mutants extant than he ever thought possible. He manages to convince Duncan of his good intentions, without resorting to mind control, and Duncan agrees to consult with Xavier and assist with his searches. It is Duncan who suggests adapting a new type of security scanner to detect the anomaly at short range, leading to the development of the first Cerebro scanner. At the same time, there's someone else out there, tracking down mutants. He's about 30, with prematurely gray/white hair and piercing gray eyes. He dresses a little out of fashion, choosing to wear a fedora with his gray suit and long gray coat. He calls himself "Magnus".
The show . . . I envision UNCANNY as a weekly show, aimed at young adults, that, like Smallville, acts as a pre-quel to the Big Events. Each episode would reveal a bit more of the mutant lore we all love so much, with future X-Men and evil mutants providing the monster-of-the-week roles. The first episode would introduce the main characters, with possibly a flashback to Xavier and Lehnsherr, talking about the mutant phenomenon and the dangers mutants face. Xavier argues that humans and mutants can co-exist, if mutants are willing to work within human society to find their niche. Lehnsherr, hardened by his experiences, doubts this is possible, believe mutants will be forced to fight for their place in the world. From there, we should get a picture of Charles Xavier's life and work. See him treating patients in the psychiatric ward of some city hospital. See him called in to consult on the Jean Grey case, a thirteen year old girl hearing voices. Her mind resonates with his own and he recognizes her as a fellow telepath and a mutant. During treatment, he realizes she is not yet emotionally equipped to deal with the stress caused by her telepathic powers, so he carefully locks it away in her mind behind mental barriers that protect her even from the memory of hearing the thoughts of others. He is not yet skilled enough to recognize the telekinetic power that, as yet, lay dormant. Then we get a glimpse of the man in gray, Magnus, calling on a suburban home. It's a bit rundown, grass not mown, paint peeling. Magnus's expression is one of distaste, but he presses on and rings the doorbell. A man answers the door, he's younger than his bent stature would imply, about 45 and he moves oddly. Meet Mortimer Toynbee, the Toad. Back at the hospital, Xavier is called in on a strange case. A boy who won't open his eyes. If anyone attempts to pry his lids open, he thrashes and scream in terror. The light hurts his eyes, he says, but it's more than that. He begs them to cover his eyes, tape them shut and Xavier agrees that it's for the best. Then he begins to calm the boy and slowly enters his mind. He sees the boy, alone, walking down an alley, carrying a sack of groceries. His eyes are bothering him again. The light from a flashing neon sign is first piercing, then soothing. The red light is comforting, it doesn't hurt him. The white light is like a knife, making his head ache more than usual. He stumbles and drops the sack. He kneels to pick up the spilled groceries and someone steps out of an alcove, chuckling. He's big and tough-looking, smells of cheap booze, he makes some sort of crude remark about the boy already being on his knees. Scott Summers screams, "NO!" and the alley is bathed in an explosion of red light and a loud crack of displaced air. When help arrives, the assailant is nowhere to be found. Xavier probes deep enough to discover that Scott is an orphan, that his foster father is an abusive drunk, who is trying to lead Scott into a life of crime, as a burglar and thief. At this time, Scott's optic blasts are intermittent, coming at times of great emotional distress. Xavier works with Scott to find a way to help him see in normal light. They discover that a new type of optical ruby lens that allows Scott to see in daylight, relieving his headaches and, restraining his optic blasts. The first season of the show would involve Xavier and Scott Summers developing a mobile Cerebro unit, testing it and locating a few mutants. It would also involve them getting into trouble, of course, as Xavier develops what will become a set of ethical guidelines for mutants, including himself and Scott learning to channel his erratic power. By the end of the season, Scott's optic blasts would be on all the time, as they have been since X-Men #1. Xavier will have developed the ethical base that will put him at odds with Magnus -Magneto- in the future. And one other man would become aware of the threat of mutants to the rest of humanity . . . Bolivar Trask. Trask is an engineer and software designer. Due to some family tragedy, for which he blames mutants. He begins the work that will culminate in the construction of the Master Mold and the Sentinels. The first sentinel technology will be deployed by human agents, but when they prove unreliable (in Trask's opinion) he begins working on the robots we know and love. The series would develop the characters further. The Toad would become Magnus's assistant, sometimes a tiresome companion, other times actually useful. We'd meet other mutants, good and evil. We'd meet future X-Men, along the way and Xavier would begin the path that would lead him to becoming the Professor we're all familiar with. The need for a school becomes apparent, as the series goes on, a place where mutants don't have to hide from everyone. Well, there it is, the bare bones of a series pitch.
UNCANNY. It's a great title, ain't it?
   
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