James McAvoy recently discussed his portrayal of Professor X and expressed a desire to see a more sinister side to Professor Charles Xavier in the MCU.
The iconic actor famously played the mutant leader in Fox’s X-Men prequel film series. His run ended with Dark Phoenix, the final instalment before the rights returned to Marvel.
Although McAvoy is not expected to reprise his role as the mutant leader for the Multiverse Saga, the actor expressed his hopes for the direction Marvel will take with Professor X when he is introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In an interview with Collider to promote his new horror movie Speak No Evil, McAvoy shared his interest in seeing MCU’s Professor X as a flawed character who isn’t afraid to embrace a darker side.
McAvoy said, “I’d love to take him evil. You’d love to take him bad.”
“You’d love to make him go AWOL. There’s tons you can do with that character, which is what they will do.”
He further added, “Marvel will do tons with that character, and I cannot wait to see what they do with it. It’s in good hands.”
“It’s still a part that is just so ripe for exploration for whatever lucky actor gets to do it.”
Although McAvoy suggested an interesting direction for the new version of Professor X, it’s unlikely that Marvel will follow this route.
Such a major change to the character might not be something Marvel wants to pursue as they introduce the X-Men into the MCU.
James McAvoy first played Charles Xavier/Professor X, the founder of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and leader of the X-Men, in the 2011 movie X-Men: First Class.
He returned to the role in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which also saw Patrick Stewart reprising his role as the older Charles Xavier from the original X-Men film trilogy.
