As we wait for Disney and Marvel to usher in a new era of X-Men-related film content, questions about who could play the iconic mutants continue to burn in fans’ minds. For several years, fan casts for the part of Wolverine have run rampant online, with everyone from Jared Kesso to Daniel Radcliffe and Taron Egerton floated as someone to play the adamantium-clawed Canadian hero. But what about Professor Charles Xavier? The mutant mentalist is one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. After Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy’s performances, playing the bald father figure to many mutants will take someone extraordinary. How about Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian, and Kaleidoscope actor Giancarlo Esposito?
Speaking with Amon Warmann from the Fade to Black podcast, Giancarlo Esposito says it’d be great to play Professor X in an X-Men project, though he’d like to change an aspect of the character’s mobility.
“I’ve given it a cursory glance in my brain, and immediately I go ‘Hmm.’ [It would] be great to play Professor X in some other incarnation that is just the wheelchair. Right? Because the physical idea of being in a wheelchair every single day does not appeal to me. I just don’t feel that old and I don’t like to sit that much.”
Recognizing there are incarnations of Professor X in which the character does not use a wheelchair – such as the soon-to-end Krakoan Era – this version of the character could appear in future films.
“But certainly, we could figure something out maybe. Professor X wasn’t always in the wheelchair but that is part of his character development. So, I think about it a little bit but I don’t give it all of my thought because it would have to come to me.”
Before Esposito and Warmann move onto another topic, Warmann notes fans mentioning the idea of Esposito playing Professor X alongside a Magneto played by Denzel Washington. Esposito thinks this idea is “great.” Now, it’s all I can think about.
Who should play Professor X when Marvel Studios‘ X-Men Era begins? Are Esposito and Washington an excellent duo to play Professor X and Magneto? In the comments section below, let us know some of your casting choices for these iconic characters.