Charles Xavier (film character)
Charles Xavier | |
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X-Men film series and Marvel Cinematic Universe character | |
First appearance | X-Men (2000) |
Based on | |
Adapted by | |
Portrayed by |
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In-universe information | |
Full name | Charles Francis Xavier |
Nickname | Professor X |
Species | Headmaster |
Occupation |
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Affiliation |
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Family |
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Spouse | Moira McTaggert |
Nationality | British-American |
Powers and abilities |
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Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known simply by his
In the film series' continuity, Xavier is a mutant
Xavier has been a central figure of the film series, appearing in eleven live-action feature films and one television series.
Although Xavier is American-born in the comics and in animation, he speaks with an English accent in the films. First Class establishes that he lived in the United States during childhood, though his mother speaks with an English accent, indicating he may have developed his accent because of her. Stewart's and McAvoy's performances as Xavier have received a universally positive critical reception, winning a Saturn Award. Stewart had previously held the Guinness World Record for "longest career as a live-action Marvel character" alongside co-star Hugh Jackman for their respective portrayals of Charles Xavier / Professor X and James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the X-Men films, before being surpassed by Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, who both reprised their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and Norman Osborn / Green Goblin in the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Stewart alone however retook the title following his reprisal in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Character creation
The comic book character,
Casting
Rather than auditioning other actors, X-Men director
Fictional character biography
Original timeline
X-Men: First Class
The circumstances of Xavier's paralysis caused continuity errors in the timeline of the X-Men saga, as he is seen walking in sequences taking place at least 20 years later, in a film that was released years before. As an explanation, Xavier can be seen walking in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which explains that he can do it by creating an illusion that he is standing in various scenes, when in reality, the character is only present by telepathic projection.[14][15]
Laurence Belcher portrays 12-year-old Charles Xavier.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Xavier appears briefly at the end of
X-Men
Xavier is first introduced in
X2
Stewart reprises his role as Xavier in
X-Men: The Last Stand
In
In the present, Xavier expresses worry over Cyclops' grief over Jean's death and tells Storm that should anything happen to him, she would replace him as the head of the school. When Jean is discovered alive, Xavier sedates her and tells Wolverine that he had kept her powers in check with mental barriers since she was a child, resulting in her developing a second personality known as "The Phoenix." When Jean awakens as The Phoenix and escapes, Xavier tracks her down to her old home and tries to convince her to return. Rather than starting a fight outside her house, Xavier lets Magneto come with him. Xavier tries to calmly talk Jean into returning to the mansion, but Magneto turns the unstable Jean against the Professor. This causes Xavier to panic and tell Jean that she is a danger to everyone, including herself. He uses the fact that Jean killed Cyclops to try to make her realize her potential for evil, but he only angers the Phoenix more. After much argument, the Phoenix manifests its great powers as she tries to keep Xavier from re-establishing the psychic blocks to imprison it again. Infuriated both by Xavier's meddling in her head and Magneto, who insinuates that Xavier wishes to restrain her and "give her the cure," she uses her mind to first lift her house into the air and then cause Xavier to explode into ashes. His death is difficult for everyone at the school, and it is nearly closed until Storm honors Xavier's wishes and acts as the school's head following the arrival of Warren.
In a
On the DVD Commentary, it is revealed that the body on
The Wolverine
Xavier appears in the post-credits scene of The Wolverine, with Stewart reprising his role, where he appears along with a redeemed Magneto to warn Wolverine of an upcoming crisis. Amazed, Wolverine asks how he is still alive. Xavier reminds Logan that he once said long ago that Logan is not the only one with gifts. A photograph of Wolverine with Xavier also appears in Yashida's scrapbook.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart reprise their roles as the younger and older Charles Xavier / Professor X respectively, in
By 2023, the Sentinels have decimated the mutant race and virtually conquered Earth, forcing the X-Men to seek a new method of combating their threat. With Kitty Pryde (Elliot Page) having developed the ability to project an individual's consciousness back into their past selves, Xavier proposes that he be sent back into his past self in 1973 so that he can prevent Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) after he proposed the Sentinel program, believing that this death is the primary catalyst for this timeline. However, Kitty explains that the process of projecting someone's mind into the past would be too psychologically traumatic, even for Xavier to survive it, prompting Wolverine to volunteer to go back instead as his power would allow him to recover from the damage inflicted.
When Wolverine arrives to seek his help, the past Xavier is eventually inspired to strive for his goal again. As the serum suppressing his abilities begins to wear off, instead of taking his next dose, Xavier accepts Wolverine's encouragement to read his mind, allowing the young Xavier to not only see Logan's memories but also briefly communicate with his future self, Logan's projected mind acting as a psychic 'bridge' between the past and the future. The older Xavier convinces his younger self to maintain his faith that humanity can rise above its mistakes rather than judge it by when it stumbles despite the future he lives in. He offers his young self advice on how to get past the fear of emotional pain that is hindering his powers by telling him that he can accept the pain of others by focusing on the hope for a better future. The older Xavier also allows his young counterpart to see his memories, which include the differences he had made in his students.
Free from his self-doubts and aware of the impending crisis, the young Xavier subsequently stops using the serum to regain his telepathy and is determined to stop the dystopian future and save Mystique from damnation. Although Magneto nearly triggers a mass slaughter when he takes control of the Sentinels during their demonstration in Washington, D.C., Mystique knocks him out in time, followed by Xavier appealing to her to not assassinate Trask. As a result of the changed past and the knowledge Xavier has gained from both Wolverine and his future self, he is able to change the outcome of the next 50 years. All of the X-Men (including Cyclops and Jean Grey, who had previously died in X-Men: The Last Stand), are alive in the altered future timeline. In addition, he and Logan are the only two who are aware of the details of changes they have made toward the timeline's continuity.
Archival footage of Laurence Belcher from X-Men: First Class was used in this film.
Revised timeline
X-Men: Apocalypse
McAvoy reprises his role as Xavier in
Apocalypse attempts to use his equipment to transfer his essence into Xavier's body, allowing him to gain full access to Xavier's telepathy. Although the energy shield of the transference burns off Xavier's hair as he tries to escape, he is finally rescued by
Dark Phoenix
McAvoy reprises his role as young Charles Xavier in 2019's Dark Phoenix. When the film begins, Xavier adopts a young Jean Grey after her psychic powers cause a car accident that kills her mother and her resentful father abandons her. The experience deeply traumatizes Jean and Xavier alters her memories to make her forget that she caused the accident and that her father survived, in order to prevent the trauma from making her psychic mind unstable.
The film then jumps to the early 1990s, the X-Men are enjoying a period of acceptance as public heroes, to the point that the President calls them for assistance in dealing with a shuttle accident, although Mystique expresses concern that Xavier is more focused on their current celebrity status than his original goal of coexistence between mutants and humans. The situation becomes dangerous when Jean absorbs a mysterious space anomaly that almost destroys the shuttle, elevating her already-formidable powers and unlocks her suppressed memories. The trauma from her childhood causes Jean's mind to be unstable and make her psychic powers uncontrollable, causing harm to people around her.
The traumatized Jean accidentally kills Mystique, which leads to Beast rejecting Xavier to join Magneto in seeking revenge on Jean for Mystique's death. When an alien race confronts Jean with the goal of draining her new power to allow them to terraform Earth into their new homeworld, the X-Men come back together to protect her. This show of solidarity helps her achieve a new sense of mental stability before she departs Earth. The film ends with Beast taking over as headmaster of the school while Xavier decides to 'retire' for a time. The final scene shows him playing chess with Magneto in Paris as they contemplate their new future.
Deadpool 2
In a very brief cameo, McAvoy plays Xavier in Deadpool 2, as Stewart was too busy in other projects to reprise his role. After Wade Wilson / Deadpool is brought back to the X-Mansion, he loudly questions and remarks to Colossus where the other mutants are, as he always only sees him or Negasonic Teenage Warhead at the mansion. Xavier, Beast and other X-Men are briefly shown behind a sliding wooden door, which is quietly closed in order to hide from Deadpool.
Logan
Stewart reprises his role as Xavier in
Alternate versions
Legion
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
On
Accolades
Both Stewart and McAvoy have been nominated for awards for their performances in the role.
Award | Year | Actor | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
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Saturn Awards | 2001 | Patrick Stewart | Best Supporting Actor | X-Men | Nominated | [24] |
Scream Awards | 2011 | James McAvoy | Best Fantasy Actor | X-Men: First Class | Nominated | [25] |
2011 | Best Superhero | Nominated | [25] | |||
People's Choice Awards | 2012 | Favorite Movie Superhero | Nominated | [26] | ||
Kids' Choice Awards
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2017 | Favorite Squad | X-Men: Apocalypse | Nominated | [27] | |
Broadcast Film Critics Association
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2018 | Patrick Stewart | Best Supporting Actor | Logan | Nominated | [24] |
Detroit Film Critics Society | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
Houston Film Critics Society | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
North Carolina Film Critics Association | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
North Texas Film Critics Association | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
Phoenix Film Critics Society | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
Saturn Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Won | [24] | ||
Seattle Film Critics Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [24] | ||
Teen Choice Awards | 2019 | James McAvoy | Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie Actor | Dark Phoenix | Nominated |
References
- ^ Mellor, Joseph (May 10, 2022). "Doctor Strange 2 Includes a Callback to an Iconic Marvel TV Show". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-57806-984-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ O'Neill, Patrick Daniel; Lee, Stan (August 1993). "X Marks the Spot". Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty. pp. 8–9.
- ISBN 1-932100-74-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b c Appleyard, Bryan (4 November 2007). "Patrick Stewart: Keep on Trekkin'". The Sunday Times. London: News Corp. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ^ "Patrick Stewart can't wait for Chichester role". Portsmouth News. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ Thomas, Millicent (July 16, 2020). "Patrick Stewart nearly turned down the role of Professor Xavier in X-Men". GamesRadar. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- ^ Collis, Clark. "Patrick Stewart says he's retiring from X-Men franchise: 'I'm done'". ComicBook. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (March 7, 2017). "Patrick Stewart Open to Playing Charles Xavier Again for 'Legion'". Kevin. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ^ Butler, Mary Anne (February 4, 2019). "'Legion' Adds Professor X to Their Season 3 Cast". Bleeding Cool News. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ a b Garbutt, Emily (May 5, 2022). "The Illuminati members in Doctor Strange 2, listed and explained". Total Film. GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ComicBook.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- Superhero Hype!. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
- ^ a b "X-Men: Days of Future Past". YouTube.
- ^ a b "'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Clip Explains How Professor X Walks Again". Screen Rant. May 2014.
- ^ Douglas, Edward (2006-05-29). "That X-Men secret ending!". SuperHeroHype. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- ^ "Michael Fassbender Talks 'X-Men: First Class 2' & Acting Overload". Screen Rant. 31 May 2012.
- ^ Rich, Katey (May 31, 2012). "X-Men: First Class Sequel Sets Summer 2014 Release Date". Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ Rich, Katey (Nov 27, 2012). "X-Men: Days Of Future Past Bringing Back Patrick Stewart And Ian McKellen".
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "XMen Days of Future Past "You Abandoned Us All" Clip Official". YouTube.
- ^ "'X-Men: Apocalypse': Who will return? What new mutants may appear? Scoop on the next X-Men film -- Exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. April 11, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "James McAvoy Will Probably Be Bald In The New 'X-Men' Movie". Entertainment Weekly. September 11, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Vary, Adam B. (May 6, 2022). "Patrick Stewart on Playing Charles Xavier Again in Doctor Strange 2: 'I Was a Little Unsure at First'". Variety. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
- ^ Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ Spike TV. Archived from the originalon October 12, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
- ^ "Nominations Announced for the 'People's Choice Awards 2012'" (Press release). People's Choice Awards. November 8, 2011. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
- ^ "Kids' Choice Awards 2017: The complete list". E! News. March 12, 2017.