“I’m not saying anything”: James McAvoy Casts Plausible Deniability on His X-Men Return as MCU Set to Bring Back Mutants Soon
Scottish actor James McAvoy gained recognition after he appeared as Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005. He later went on to star in movies, including Wanted, The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, and more. The actor portrayed the character of Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class and reprised his character for the future X-Men movies.
The new generation of mutants returned for three movies in which James McAvoy reprised his character. The last two movies; X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), were met with mixed reviews from the audience. With the Fox-Disney merge, McAvoy’s generation of X-Men came to an end, but there have been rumors about the actor returning as Professor X in MCU. Let’s find out what the actor had to say.
Also read: 5 Professor X Powers That Prove He’s Too Powerful For the MCU
James McAvoy addresses the rumors of his return as Professor X in the MCU
Back in 2019, after Disney acquired Fox, Marvel Studios managed to regain the film rights to X-Men along with Deadpool and Fantastic Four. What surprised the audience was Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Charles Xavier in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Kelsey Grammer returned as Beast in 2023 The Marvels and Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine for Deadpool.
There had been rumors about James McAvoy also being in talks with the MCU to return as Professor X as the studio plans to bring mutants back. During a quick conversation with ET News during the premiere of The Book of Clarence, James McAvoy was asked if he’s thinking of his return, to which he said,
“Anything I say will get me in trouble. I’ve had no contact with them. If they want me to come back, they need to talk to me and need a good script. I am not saying anything.”
This is not the first time the actor has addressed his return as Professor X and joined the MCU after his former co-stars decided to return as their iconic characters. In his interview with GQ in November 2022, the Scottish actor mentioned that
“I’m very quick to say, ‘No, I’m done’. Or ‘I’m not that bothered about coming back’. Because you move forward.”
The actor also shared that he had not received any call from the MCU to join Avengers: Secret Wars.
James McAvoy admits to X-Men: Days of Future Past being the most difficult X-Men movie
The actor who took over the role of a younger version of Professor X in 2011 X-Men: First Class had discussed during a panel at Calgary Expo 2023 about which movie he found the most difficult. According to ComicBook, James McAvoy revealed that 2014’s Days of Future Past’s timeline-hopping adventure was the most difficult movie. He said,
“I got more of an acting workout than I think I’ve had in any other movie. It was so deep and focused so much on Charles’ story. It was as much of an acting workout as any non-comic book movie I’ve ever done.”
He continued to explain what he had learned from his time as Professor X,
“You got to be careful that you’re not hurting people because you’re pursuing a higher, good, righteous goal. The self-obsession and self-absorption that a good person can have, I’m going to try and keep an eye on myself.”
After he reprised the character for a brief cameo in Deadpool 2, fans have been eager to watch the actor back in the same character. However, for now, James McAvoy doesn’t seem to be returning as Professor X in the MCU but then again, it’s Marvel and it has opened the gate to multiverse!
