The wonderful and superbly talented Patrick Stewart has lent his skillset to the X-Men film franchise for nearly two decades now. With that said, the actor has announced that with the release of Logan, he is officially bowing out of playing Xavier in any further films in the series. As Hugh Jackman retires his claws, this version of Professor X is officially over. With the next iteration on film taking a new turn, this comes as no surprise as both of these actors have fulfilled their duties to a comic book property that's seen the greatness of Logan and the doldrums of X-Men: The Last Stand.
Stewart has been quoted as saying about Logan:
"A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, the three of us sat, watching the movie, and I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it. Maybe it was the company of these two guys, but the movie ended and — this is an admission — but at one point [Hugh] reached out, and he took my hand in those last few minutes, and I saw him go [mimes wiping a tear from his eye] like this, and then I realized I had just done the same thing. Then, the movie ended… and we were going to be taken up on stage, but not until the credits were over. So, we had some time to sit there and, as I sat there I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told [Hugh] that same evening, ‘I’m done too. It’s all over."
We'll miss Stewart's dedication and the class he always brought to this character. He was always one of the best parts of these movies.
We'll miss Stewart's dedication and the class he always brought to this character. He was always one of the best parts of these movies.