Yesterday, we learned from producer Lauren Shuler Donner that the Matt Nix executive produced and Bryan Singer directed
X-Men pilot at Fox
would be called Gifted. Today, we have inadvertent confirmation that a classic
X-Men member will be appearing as well.
Last month, Blair Redford, best known for
Switched At Birth, was cast as "
Sam, the strong-headed Native American leader of the underground network." However, it appears that was just a bit of misdirection as a social media post from
Gifted co-star Natalie Alyn Lind shows that Blair is playing
Thunderbird, better known as John Proudstar.
There have been two other
X-Men characters to use the code name, including John's brother, James Proudstar - who also went by
Warpath for a time. The other user of the code name is Neal Shaara, an Indian with pyrokinetic abilities so it's highly unlikely this is the version of
Thunderbird that Redford is playing.
With this revelation, Thunderbird joins Polaris, Blink, and Sentinels as classic X-Men elements and characters that will appear on the show.