Patrick Stewart On His Future In The ‘X-Men’ Franchise After ‘Logan’

Logan star Patrick Stewart isn't eager to depart the X-Men franchise.

Patrick Stewart X-Men Professor X Fox

The X-Men franchise has spanned seventeen years and ten movies, with different casts, directors and storylines, but one element that has always been constant is the character of Wolverine – and the actor portraying him. All that will change come March, after the gritty Logan is released. Not only will Hugh Jackman – the only Wolverine we know – be saying goodbye to the prickly Canadian mutant, but audiences all around the world will be too.

Jackman announced a while ago that his third solo outing would be his last appearance in an X-Men film, which came as a blow to fans who know him best from the franchise. Questions were raised about the content of his final film, and more importantly, who would take over the mantle of Wolverine in the future? Deadpool will be spawning many more sequels with X-Men characters we’ll hopefully recognise, and X-Men: Apocalypse opened up possibilities for a new set of films with the fresh faces of a teenaged Jean Grey, Cyclops and Storm. Would filmmakers recast Wolverine, as they did for the younger versions of Ian McKellen’s Magneto and Patrick Stewart’s Xavier? Or would they go the comic-book route, which involves a far more creative solution to replacing the inimitable Jackman? We soon found out, and we’ll meet Wolverine’s young legacy in Logan, but should we be expecting other fan favourites to disappear from the franchise any time soon? Professor X the elder, Patrick Stewart, commented on the upcoming film, and his future involvement with X-Men.

Patrick Stewart spoke to Entertainment Tonight about his time shared throughout the years with Jackman, and how his long-time co-star has evolved:

“His charm and modesty and likeability has never changed. What has changed is the actor. His work throughout the franchise is compelling and powerful and witty and very entertaining, and I believe what he does in Logan is quite extraordinary. The aging, the sadness, the weariness, the borderline despair he exhibits coupled with that edge that has always been there is quite remarkable.”

During the interview, Patrick Stewart also gave fans some hope when he mentioned how he doesn’t intend to follow Jackman by leaving his role for good:

“Hugh has raised the flag that says goodbye. I haven’t done that yet.”

As we’ve seen, Patrick Stewart’s successor James McAvoy is more than capable of adopting the role of Charles – but it’s comforting to know we have Stewart on hand for any storyline that requires his original, older version. Fans aren’t quite ready to let another icon go just yet.

Logan will be released on March 3rd in the US.

Source: Entertainment Tonight