Warning: There are SPOILERS ahead for Logan. So if you’ve still not seen James Mangold’s stirring superhero epic, which, if the cinematic world is right, will be in awards season contention over the next few months then you should probably watch it first before reading below.
“Logan” was seen by many viewers as the perfect farewell for both Hugh Jackman as the titular superhero and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, especially as, come the film’s conclusion, both characters had been killed.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t see either character again in the “X-Men” universe. Let’s not forget that Patrick Stewart’s character was already disintegrated by Jean Grey/Phoenix (Famke Janssen) in “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
This was something that the beloved English actor brought up when I spoke to him at the Hamptons International Film Festival earlier this month. When I asked Stewart whether he will ever return as Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” universe he responded, “I was already vaporized by Jean Grey. And look, here I am.”
But while the above suggests that Stewart might be open to returning as Professor X the 77-year-old then quickly went on to insist that his time on “Logan” was the perfect way to bring his tenure with the franchise to an end, and as such he doesn’t want to ruin that experience.
“The thing is ‘Logan’ was such a beautiful experience. The climax of the movie I think was so beautifully performed and directed and my own particular ending in the movie was such that it feels like it wouldn’t be right to come back and do something or do another Charles Xavier.”
It took Stewart a while to come to this realization, though. In fact, Stewart only did so after watching “Logan” alongside Hugh Jackman at the Berlin International Film Festival, which is when he decided to follow the Australian actor’s decision and retire as the character.
“I didn’t know this until I sat alongside Hugh and watched the movie in Berlin, and I thought Hugh has made the right decision and I will join him.”
It is far from the end for the X-Men Cinematic Universe, though. Becuase not only is “Deadpool 2” arriving in May, 2018, but before then we also have “The New Mutants” in April, 2018, and then it will be followed by “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” in November, 2018, too.
