A new piece of X-Men fan art shows imagines what popular fan cast choice Giancarlo Esposito would look like as Professor X while using the Cerebro mutant detector. Formerly played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy in the Fox X-Men franchise, fans are currently waiting to see who Kevin Feige will pick to play the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Professor Charles Xavier once the X-Men are properly introduced into their new continuity. While Stewart reprised his role as Professor X for a cameo in last year’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, it is widely expected that the role will be recast once Marvel begins to truly work their mutant characters into the MCU proper.
More accustomed to playing villains in shows like Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian and The Boys, Esposito was a surprising yet welcome pick for many fans to assume the role of the X-Men’s telepathic founder. Now digital artist clements.ink has provided fans with a glimpse at what the actor could look like wearing Cerebro’s classic helmet.
Esposito is currently aware that many fans are calling for him to join the MCU as Xavier and has previously expressed his own enthusiasm for the idea. Last year he even suggested that he could potentially play the role with “force, grace, and a calm.”
How Will The MCU Approach The X-Men?
Ever since Disney completed their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, fans have been eager to see how the X-Men would finally make their long-anticipated MCU debut. While the franchise has already hinted at the existence of mutants throughout their Phase 4 slate, even controversially turning Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan from an Inhuman into a mutant, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore has suggested that it is still very early days in their attempts to create a rebooted X-Men lineup. Despite Stewart’s version of Professor X showing up in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, it will likely be some time before fans see his character return on the big screen.
At the moment, all clues seem to point to the existence of the multiverse playing a major role in explaining the presence of mutants in the MCU’s future. Not only did Stewart’s MCU cameo come about as a result of Doctor Strange’s journey to the alternate Earth-838, but it seems that both Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine from the former Fox universe are also likely to encounter some multiversal shenanigans in the upcoming Deadpool 3. With the MCU’s current Multiverse Saga planned to come to a climatic conclusion in Avengers: Secret Wars, the resulting state of the MCU could easily see the X-Men come about as a consequence of having several alternate universes collide.
As for what classic X-Men characters MCU fans can expect to see, Moore has already hinted at Storm and Bishop being two members of the team currently being considered by the studio. Of course, whatever character make up the MCU’s version of the X-Men, it would be hard to imagine them without Professor X wisely steering their operations from his trusty hoverchair. With any luck, it might even be Esposito who gets tapped to be the one to bring the iconic mutant telepath to life when the X-Men finally make their official MCU debut.
Source: clements.ink