The future of the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a hot topic of conversation, especially given the fact that we’re all pretty sure we heard Charles Xavier in the latest trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That is, it sounded like Sir Patrick Stewart and seemingly looked like Charles Xavier (from what little we could see), but nothing was confirmed.
Sir Patrick Stewart tried, for a minute, to pretend like he wasn’t in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He said, “Who is Doctor Strange?” when asked, but then also just seemingly told Jake Hamilton that it was him and he filmed for the movie. The co-host of the ReelBlend podcast spoke with Stewart for the release of Star Trek: Picard and simply asked him about theories he’s in the movie and if Stewart’s phone went off while he was watching the Super Bowl trailer.
Stewart’s reaction? Basically telling Hamilton that it was him and he didn’t recognize his own voice, but that he was surprised that his ear and Charles Xavier’s iconic wheelchair gave him away. And the Marvel gods didn’t smite Sir Patrick Stewart right then and there, so maybe we were supposed to know he’s in the movie …
So, if we go off of Hamilton’s interview, it seems like Stewart just confirmed that it was him and that he is Charles Xavier again, and that we’ll be getting a look into what Charles is doing talking to Doctor Strange. That doesn’t mean we’ll see other mutants, but it is telling if Xavier is here.
Bring on the mutants
Previously, the live-action world of the mutants belonged to Fox, and time and time again they attempted to bring certain storylines to life (I’m talking about Dark Phoenix) and it didn’t really work. What worked with the Fox universe really worked, and what didn’t pretty much crashed and burned—part of that being the fact that they were completely separate from the rest of the Marvel world due to contracts, and the same goes for what mutants did exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wanda Maximoff did not have her father, and Pietro could only be in Age of Ultron since a Pietro already existed in the Fox world.
It was a mess, and now, having Charles Xavier coming into the Marvel Cinematic Universe does mean that we might get a glimpse into Wanda’s connection to the mutants and Magneto, and might even see her brother once again. We can have the mutants we know and love enter into the MCU and start to fold them into the story slowly so they can have their own time.
Having Stewart star was Xavier is also telling because … does that mean that the world that already exists for the X-Men is continuing? Is our Wolverine still Hugh Jackman, and will we have characters like Halle Berry’s Storm return? Or is Stewart just the tie-in and we’ll have an entirely new cast of mutants coming our way? All things are possible with the multiverse. This Xavier might not even be the one we already know.
The future for the X-Men is pretty wide open, and getting to explore their introduction in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Wanda will be fascinating. I just like that Sir Patrick Stewart basically confirmed he’s in it and Marvel’s probably sitting there knowing they can’t yell at Sir Pat.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
