Sir Patrick Stewart’s version of Professor X won’t be back for more X-Men movies after his turn in the final Wolverine movie.
The X-Men franchise owes a lot to Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, whose characters Professor X and Magneto did a lot to elevate the early movies in the series.
Since then, the younger versions of their characters (played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, respectively) have gained more prominence, to the point now where McKellen and Stewart’s versions have essentially been erased from existence.
We were still delighted to learn that Patrick Stewart would reprise his role in Wolverine 3, the final movie in the Wolverine trilogy.
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Now it appears we can officially consider this his last turn as Professor X, however. Speaking to ITV, as quoted by Coming Soon, Stewart says, “I would imagine this is probably the end of this franchise for me.”
Although Stewart does note, “But the thing about science fiction and fantasy is that you can never, ever say it’s the end, it’s over.”
The actor goes on to tease his character’s role in the movie, saying that we can expect, “a very different Charles Xavier … nothing like the Charles Xavier you’ve seen in the past.”
The new Wolverine movie is expected to explore the ‘Old Man Logan’ arc comics, although Hugh Jackman has previously said that the story will take place in a timeline we’re already familiar with.
Wolverine 3 is also expected to be the final appearance of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who was another main draw of the early X-Men movies.