Ever since X-Men premiered almost 23 years ago, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier (a.k.a. Professor X) has remained a fan favorite. While James McAvoy also boasted a strong performance as a young Professor X, many still agree that Stewart had a slight edge in portraying the character and perfectly nailed the character’s authority, intelligence, compassion, and mentor-like disposition. Just like his comic book counterpart, his storyline is intrinsically linked with Marvel’s mutants.
Out of all the Marvel characters, Professor X has remained one of the biggest advocates for mutant rights and a peaceful relationship between humans and mutants. He gave countless child mutants refuge at his School for Gifted Youngsters and recruited many mutants to the X-Men to use their powers for good. As a result, he gained the trust of many prominent mutants, such as Wolverine and Jean Grey. Stewart starred as Professor X in the X-Men films up until his character died in Logan. However, last year, he surprised viewers by appearing in a cameo as a Professor X variant in an alternate universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness.
His cameo means that he has officially appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The acquisition also means that the MCU gained the rights to mutants, the X-Men, Wolverine, and Deadpool. The franchise has already capitalized on the acquisition with the announcement of Deadpool 3, set in the MCU and starring Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Given these developments, many are wondering if Stewart’s Doctor Strange 2 cameo was a tease of his future in the MCU.
Will Professor X be in Deadpool 3?
Rumors of Professor X’s appearance in Deadpool 3 remained pure speculation until Stewart himself addressed the possibility. In an interview with ComicBook.com, when questioned if he might return one more time as the beloved mutant in Deadpool 3, Stewart replied, “I’ve been told to stand by. I know nothing more than that, honest.” This isn’t a whole lot to go on, but it does mean that there is still a possibility that Stewart’s Professor X could appear in the film.
Telling Stewart to “stand by” seems to insinuate the Deadpool 3 crew wants Stewart to be prepared when they do officially reach out to him about his character’s inclusion in the film. Filming for Deadpool 3 will likely begin in May, meaning there is still some time to include Professor X in the plans. A Professor X appearance is also possible, for the same reason that Jackman’s Wolverine return is possible despite the ending of Logan. Jackman explained that Deadpool 3 won’t touch Logan‘s timeline at all and will likely take place in a different timeline altogether. In Deadpool 2, Deadpool was revealed to have a device that made time travel possible, and he quickly started impulsively changing time.
Hence, it is suspected that Deadpool 3 will see a Wolverine from a different timeline brought into the present through this device or an alternate version of Wolverine created from Deadpool’s careless messing with time. This same explanation could be used to reintroduce Professor X in a way that isn’t problematic for Logan and the X-Men series. Professor X would be a huge addition to an already exciting Deadpool/Wolverine crossover, but it remains to be seen if it will be officially confirmed.
(via ComicBook.com, featured image: 20th Century Fox)
