Back in 2017, Patrick Stewart declared that the film Logan would mark the last time that Professor Charles Xavier would appear on film. By that point, Stewart’s Professor X had already appeared in seven films, and he stated at the time, “I’m done, too. It’s all over.”
But Stewart seems to have softened his stance a little in the years since then, and he told interviewer Josh Horowitz that even though Professor X has died on film four times, he still may re-appear again, perhaps even in Deadpool 3.
He made the comments on Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast yesterday (Jan. 4), saying, “I do now have every confidence that he’s still around.”
Stewart made an appearance as Professor X in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he had a cameo in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness in 2022, so it’s obvious he’s still open to keeping the character alive.
He explained that it’s just a matter of logistics if he’ll appear as Professor X in another project, but it’s tantalizing, given the fact that his former X-Men co-star Hugh Jackman will be a main character in the next Deadpool film.
“On the X-Men front,” Horowitz said to Stewart, “I would be shocked if your buddy, Hugh Jackman, who is returning in Deadpool 3, if one of his first phone calls he made was not to you, Patrick. I’m gonna guess I might see Patrick Stewart in a Deadpool/Wolverine movie.”
Stewart responded, “It has come up,” though he said it hasn’t been easy to make it happen. “There’s been a process. You know, the last two, three years have been difficult with the labor problems and the health problems, and Covid.”
Deadpool 3 began production in May of last year, but was halted due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. It is now on track for a July 2024 release.
