‘Wolverine 3’ Might Be Patrick Stewart’s Last ‘X-Men’ Film, Too
The upcoming Wolverine sequel has long been hyped as Hugh Jackman’s final outing as the iconic hero, but he may not be the only one preparing to say farewell to the X-Men franchise. In a new interview, Patrick Stewart reveals that Wolverine 3 (or 2, if you’re ignoring X-Men Origins) may very well feature his last appearance as Professor Charles Xavier.
James Mangold’s follow-up to The Wolverine is loosely based on Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan comic book series, in which an older Logan is reluctantly pulled out of retirement to help an old friend. That old friend isn’t Professor X, who doesn’t appear in Millar’s story, but he will appear in the untitled Wolverine sequel. It’s only fitting that the man who first brought Logan to the X-Men would be the last one to see him off.
Speaking with ITV about his return, Stewart teased “a very different” Professor X who is “nothing like the Charles Xavier you’ve seen in the past,” though it may be the last time we see him. Says Stewart:
I can’t say because I don’t know, but I would imagine this is probably the end of this franchise for me. But the thing about science fiction and fantasy is that you can never, ever say it’s the end, it’s over.
Professor X died in the third X-Men film, but thanks to a little timeline rebooting in Days of Future Past (which really didn’t make much sense), the older version of Xavier was able to return. The way Stewart explains, it seems like the Wolverine sequel may offer a nice conclusion for both Logan and Xavier, but the X-Men franchise has taught us a couple of things: Anything is possible, and 20th Century Fox has no plans to let this series end anytime soon.
Wolverine 3 hits theaters on March 3, 2017.