James McAvoy And Patrick Stewart Talk Professor X In ‘Days Of Future Past’
The upcoming X-prequel/sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of those film projects that sounds almost too good to be true, as it reunites practically everyone from the film X-verse under one title. Hot off the heels of Hugh Jackman’s confirmed return as Wolverine for the dystopic film, James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart, who have both played Professor Xavier, talked a bit about their respective returns as the iconic mutant patriarch.
In an interview with Total Film, McAvoy talked about one important unanswered question in the film series thus far: How Professor Xavier loses his hair.
“[screenwriter] Simon Kinberg and I had a chat about it and we came up with a whole bunch of ideas about how, why and where he might go bald. It’s got to be linked to the plot though. In the comics, he lost his hair as soon as his powers awakened, and we clearly didn’t follow the source material. It can’t just be that he looks in the mirror at the end of the film and goes ‘Oh [frick], I’m losing my hair’. Although that could be quite funny with all this sh** going on… he goes ‘Arge, I’m really stressed…'”
There’s also the discrepancy of 80s-era Professor X (played by Patrick Stewart in X-Men Originsand X-Men: The Last Stand) walking around sans-hair and still chums with Ian McKellen’s Magneto while X-Men: First Class documents their falling out in the 60s, with McAvoy’s Prof. ending up in a wheelchair and perfectly coiffed.
It’s really hard to tell what’s supposed to be canon in these films anymore.
As for Patrick Stewart, he’s not allowed to say much except that he’s excited to return to the series.
“I’m very happy to report that Bryan Singer is coming back to direct the movie. I’m very happy that my lovely friend Ian McKellen is going to be with me. I don’t know anyone else who is to be involved in the project. Maybe it’s just the two of us! That would be a movie! Magneto and Xavier’s conversations…. I’m not being cute. That’s all I know. Maybe once the holidays are over, more information will begin to come through. I have a vague idea of the time commitments, but I don’t know where we’re going to shoot. But I’m greatly looking forward to it.”
I’m still excited, but this could really end up being one giant mess of a film. For Pete’s sake, look at the cast/crew sheet via ScreenRant:
“Bryan Singer will direct X-Men: Days of Future Past with returning stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who could be joined by the return of Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore.”
That’s a ton of contradictory plot material and character crammed into one movie. Still, I’m (pensively) looking forward to X-Men: Days of Future Past, if for nothing else other than this awesome fake teaser:
