Marvel fans often talk about how the X-Men are coming to the MCU, but the truth is… they’re already here. Ms. Marvel’s a mutant, so is Namor, and did we all forget that Patrick Stewart, the OG Professor X himself, turned up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
Yes, whatever happens in Deadpool 3, Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine are not the first Fox legacy stars in the MCU. That honor goes to Stewart, who returned to his iconic role 22 years after first playing the part in 2000’s X-Men, and five years after apparently saying goodbye to Charles Xavier forever with 2017’s Logan.
And yet even the most diehard Doctor Strange devotee would have to admit the Prof’s return was underwhelming, given the ease with which Scarlet Witch killed him off. In fact, even Stewart himself agrees his return was “disappointing,” although not for the same reason as everyone else.
While speaking on the Happy. Sad. Confused podcast, the veteran actor admitted to host Josh Horowitz that the entirety of his cameo was filmed on his lonesome. “I was alone. I think that the big scene, each one of the leading actors had the same experience. They were shot on their own,” Stewart said, regarding how the big Illuminati sequence was brought to life.
Patrick Stewart admits shooting that MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS sequence was “frustrating and disappointing”
— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) January 4, 2024
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To be fair to Multiverse of Madness, Stewart went on to stress that much of his acting experience in the COVID era has been equally as dispiriting, due to the need to keep people apart and reduce health risks. “That’s how it’s been…the last few years have been challenging,” he lamented.
Given his disappointment with DS2, you might expect that Stewart would swear never to don Xavier’s suit ever again. But, whether in spite or because of his poor experience last time, the Star Trek legend heavily hinted in the same interview that there’s still more from his character to come.
“I do now have every confidence that he’s still around,” Stewart teased, before hinting exactly where he could show up next. “[Deadpool 3] has come up. There’s been a process.”
We’d like to say this is completely new information to us, but actually, just like his Doctor Strange return, Stewart’s potential involvement in Deadpool 3 has been spoiled before, not least by the man himself. If you believe all the rumors, the threequel will be filled with more of Fox’s X-Men than you could find with Cerebro. Not to mention Taylor Swift, but that’s a story for another time.
It’s unlikely that Patrick Stewart could’ve imagined he’d still be playing Professor X on and off 25 years after first accepting the part, but let’s just be thankful we’re living in one Earth in the multiverse where that’s the case. Keep an eye out for Charles Xavier when Deadpool 3 releases this July 26.
