The Gifted is an American television series created for Fox by Matt Nix, based on Marvel Comics' X-Men properties. It is connected to the X-Men film series, set in an alternate timeline where the X-Men have disappeared. The first season, consisting of thirteen episodes, began airing on October 2, 2017. A second season of sixteen episodes was ordered in January 2018.

Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker star as Reed and Caitlin Strucker, ordinary parents who take their family on the run after they discover their children's mutant abilities. Also starring in the first season are Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker, Coby Bell as Jace Turner, Jamie Chung as Clarice Fong / Blink, Blair Redford as John Proudstar / Thunderbird, and Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane / Polaris. They are joined in the second season by Skyler Samuels, promoted from a recurring guest role in the first season, as the three Frost sisters—Esme, Sophie and Phoebe—and by Grace Byers as Reeva.

Reed Strucker (portrayed by Stephen Moyer) is a father trying to balance his family responsibilities with his job as a district attorney. His father repressed his x-gene when he was a child, without his knowledge. In the beginning of the second season, Reed's stress causes his powers of disintegration to emerge uncontrollably.

Moyer was cast as Reed, the series' lead, in February 2017. He said of the character, "He thinks he's doing the right thing by moving [the mutants]. He does know these camps aren't particularly nice. He knows a few people he's captured have disappeared. He also knows this could happen to his kids. He has no choice but to go on the run." Reed was originally "more obviously out for himself and slightly less interested in his kids, slightly less interested in the marriage", but this was changed in reshoots of the pilot to make the character more likeable.

Caitlin Strucker (portrayed by Amy Acker) is a mother and nurse struggling with her "increasingly challenging" teenage children. She later takes more of a leadership role in the Mutant Underground.

Acker joined the cast as Caitlin, the female lead for the series, in March 2017. She had auditioned alongside the already-cast Moyer; the pair did not meet the actors playing their children until the table read of the pilot episode. Showrunner Matt Nix said that though Caitlin does not have mutant powers, she is not "just a mom" or "just the doctor" in the series, and "over the course of the show I really love the idea of showing the evolution of a suburban mom into an underground warrior." Acker added that the character was "happy with the life that she had, and that all gets flipped around, pushing her to become who she should be."

Marcos Diaz (portrayed by Sean Teale) is a rebellious mutant who can absorb and manipulate photons, and goes by the moniker Eclipse. Eclipse was rejected by his human parents, and grew up smuggling drugs from Mexico to the United States. The mutant underground uses him to smuggle mutants to safety in Mexico.

Teale was cast as the character, who was created for the series, in February 2017. Eclipse took inspiration from comic characters such as Sunspot and Wolverine.