Now that the Avengers: Doomsday marketing team has finally given fans a glimpse of the X-Men’s return – some of the X-Men, anyway – speculation can begin in earnest about what their storyline will look like when the movie is released in late 2026. One theory suggests Patrick Stewart’s Professor Charles Xavier needs to be handled with care, or one of the actor’s best performances as his Marvel character will undergo a substantial retcon.
Although Fox’s X-Men movies did eventually bring in James McAvoy to play a younger version of Professor X, Stewart remains the most prominent actor to ever play the part. The X-Men timeline within the interconnected live-action projects can be a little confusing to the uninitiated, with 2014’s Days of Future Past adding an especially mind-bending element to the continuity. With Stewart’s return as part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, things could be about to get even twistier, even if established events are adhered to.
The Professor X in the X-Men’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Trailer Could Easily Be the Same One From the Fox Movies
The recent Avengers: Doomsday teaser that reintroduces Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, and James Marsden’s Cyclops doesn’t really do enough to confirm or deny whether these versions of the characters are the same ones audiences have already seen in the X-Men movies. However, the possibility remains of this Professor X being more than a little familiar to fans, and not a previously-unseen variant as appeared in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Avengers: Doomsday‘s X-Men trailer was released to be viewed in movie theaters ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash screenings.
If this is the “main” Professor X, then it’ll be a different experience compared to if Doomsday introduces a new version of Stewart’s character. The Charles Xavier in Multiverse of Madness wasn’t bound by continuity beyond general X-Men lore and his storyline as it played out in the 2022 movie. Inversely, Avengers: Doomsday could find itself with one eye on the X-Men movies to make sure there are as few plot holes as possible. Thankfully, there is a relatively easy way to make sure everything runs smoothly.
How ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Can Set up Professor X’s Fate in 2017’s ‘Logan’
Days of Future Past caused a branch in the X-Men timeline that occurs just after 2011’s First Class, which is set at the earliest point in the Fox franchise. Days of Future Past made it possible for a new continuity to exist after First Class that didn’t interfere with the original movies. The latest point in this new reality is 2017’s Logan, which saw the death of both Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Patrick Stewart’s Professor X. Stewart’s mental state has deteriorated by the time of Logan, making his immense powers terrifyingly unruly. However, the movie never reveals how he came to be this way. It’s just assumed to be caused by old age.
In the X-Men timeline that ends with Logan, there is a sizable gap between 2019’s Dark Phoenix and the movie that features Professor X’s death. The jump is so large that the character is still being played by McAcoy in Dark Phoenix. So, there is a gulf, filled with unaddressed events, that the franchise never fleshed out. This makes it perfect as an era from which to pluck Professor X for Avengers: Doomsday, along with the other X-Men from this timeline. If so, then perhaps the upcoming battle with Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) will either cause or worsen the condition that Professor X is living with in Logan.
There Would Be an Unfortunate Side Effect of Stewart’s Professor X From Before ‘Logan’ Featuring in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Focusing on an earlier point in the Logan timeline, but long after Dark Phoenix, would be a really cool storytelling choice for Avengers: Doomsday, if that is indeed what’s going to happen. Unfortunately, the very fact that the events of Logan are already established would surely mean that Professor X can’t die in Doomsday. If he did, then he wouldn’t be able to appear in Logan, and the continuity would be left in ruins. In short, Professor X would have too much plot armor in Doomsday, which reduces the stakes of the movie on the whole. This is similar to how Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has already been seen as an old man in the MCU, so his death in Doomsday would complicate things.
That said, the X-Men franchise has already proven it’s far from afraid of creating a new branch of the timeline and forming a new reality based on a pivotal narrative event. Just as Days of Future Past started a new X-Men reality, maybe the death of Professor X will do the same thing in Avengers: Doomsday. That way, the events of Logan could remain unchanged, but Stewart would still be able to reprise his role with far more on the line than guaranteed survival. If Professor X dies in Avengers: Doomsday, and it’s the same version of the character from the Logan timeline, the event also paints a compelling picture of what the alternate events of the 2017 movie would look like without the presence of Patrick Stewart’s character.
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