Patrick Stewart recently shocked fans with his announcement that he will no longer be playing Charles Xavier in any more X-Men films. It was a surprising announcement that rubbed fresh salt in the wound Hugh Jackman created when he stated that Logan was his last outing as Wolverine. Stewart's retirement seems like it may be short-lived, however, as the actor has already shown interest in returning to the character after receiving an offer that should have fans very excited. Stewart was on The Late Late Show With James Corden when actor Dan Stevens of Legion asked if he would appear as Professor X on the show. Here's what Patrick said:
Absolutely. 100%.
That sounds like a big yes to Professor X in Legion! That's certainly good news for a show that has struggled to find its audience, with its most recent episode only netting 750,000 same-day viewers._H_aving Patrick Stewart on the series to play Charles Xavier could totally bring enough interest to pull in a larger viewership, which I'm sure FX wouldn't say no to. It also would be relevant as, spoiler alert for the next sentence and paragraph, Charles Xavier is David Haller's father.
Yes, Charles Xavier is the father to Legion's main mutant David Haller. In the comics, Xavier has a brief affair with David's mother and does not know he has a son until years later. The comics version of David Haller is not entirely different from the show version, although it's very clear that David has mental issues on top of great power in the Marvel comic. Right now, the characters in the show have been working with the theory that David is mentally stable and that his delusions are just his powers manifesting, but they've had little success in proving that. Could Patrick Stewart's Professor X be powerful enough to get David in control of himself?
It all depends on if FX can make it happen. Both X-Men director Brian Singer and Legion writer Noah Hawley have stated the series is set within the X-Men cinematic universe. There have also been statements to fans from Marvel guys like Jeph Loeb who discussed the possibility of Charles Xavier in the series prior to Patrick Stewart and David Haller on The Late Late Show. While I want to believe this moment was wholly organic, there's a good chance the two were just chatting about a deal that has possibly been in development for awhile. I don't care if it was a setup or not I just want Patrick Stewart in Legion!
So whether he appears on Legion, or even makes a cameo in Deadpool 2, it seems Logan might not be Patrick Stewart's last hurrah as Charles Xavier after all. While no one likes a flip-flopper, I think a bulk of us superhero fans can forgive Stewart this one time right? You can watch Legion on FX Wednesdays at 10 pm ET. If you're already watching that, bop on over to the next page and see Stewart's reaction to getting asked to be on the show and get hype for a potential Season 2 appearance!
