Patrick Stewart is officially out of the “X-Men” film universe
Before comic book based-superhero films regularly took over the box office, there was X-Men. The film’s release in 2000 far predates most other franchises, and it immediately introduced a memorable set of actor/character pairings. One of them was Patrick Stewart as Professor X/Charles Xavier.
But in an interview promoting the new Wolverine film Logan, Stewart dropped the news that he’s leaving the role of Professor X behind for good.
During a radio conversation with Hugh Jackman and Logan director James Mangold, Stewart shared his reflections upon seeing his seventh X-Men film contribution:
The movie ended… and we were going to be taken up on stage, but not until the credits were over. So, we had some time to sit there and, as I sat there I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told [Hugh] that same evening, ‘I’m done too. It’s all over.’”
The X-Men film franchise has become quite the juggernaut in the past couple of years. Stewart’s Professor X role, as well as many others, received younger versions from X-Men: First Class onward. We can understand his desire to hang up his hat on Charles Xavier. But, we’ll certainly miss the gravitas that Stewart brought to the role.
