A Former MCU Star Wants To Play This Iconic X-Men Character, And We're All In

19 hours ago 1

Jason is an award-winning journalist whose writing career dates back to when he developed the ability to use a crayon. He, most notably, worked previously as a "professional fan," as he likes to call it, at CinemaBlend, for which he wrote about anything and everything under the pop culture umbrella... especially Batman. His passion for the art of cinema began even earlier, stemming from repeat viewings of The Wizard of Oz.
This initially led him to pursue a career in filmmaking -- and even work briefly in the industry as an extra in the straight-to-video family film, Alice Upside Down -- before deciding that his talents would be better served discussing and showing appreciation for the various forms of entertainment he is passionate about.

The cinematic depictions of the X-Men from the Marvel movies' Fox era are set to make a grand return to the big screen in the highly anticipated 2026 release of Avengers: Doomsday, which might even be a secret Avengers vs. X-Men adaptation. However, comments by Kevin Feige have suggested that the Marvel Cinematic Universe intends to feature fresh takes on those iconic mutant characters with new actors, and one comic book movie veteran is already throwing his hat in the ring.

When appearing at New York Comic Con, Laurence Fishburne revealed that he would be open to portraying Charles Xavier in the MCU's official X-Men reboot. The idea came up during a panel discussion also featuring his The Matrix co-star, Joe Pantoliano, when host Josh Horowitz asked the 64-year-old actor about any dream roles of his, and he had this to say:

I know that they’re talking about the X-Men now. So, at this point, I want one of two things. The first thing would be: what do you think about Laurence Fishburne as Professor X?

Sir Patrick Stewart's portrayal of the telepathic Charles "Professor X" Xavier is almost as definitive and untouchable as Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine. Nonetheless, the NYCC audience roared with cheerful applause at the thought of the Matrix franchise's original Morpheus actor taking over as the X-Men founder for the MCU.

If Fishburne's casting as Professor X were to become a reality, it would not be his first time playing around in the MCU sandbox. The Academy Award nominee (for playing Ike Turner in 1993's What's Love Got to Do with It) made his debut in the long-running comic book movie franchise in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp as Dr. Bill Foster, a former associate of Dr. Hank Pym's who is later revealed to be an accomplice of Ava "Ghost" Starr.

Of course, he would certainly not be the first actor to double-dip in the franchise, as many actors have played more than one MCU role, such as Sean Gunn as both Rocket Raccoon (in performance capture) and Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., who is returning the MCU as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Also, Fishburne is only the latest MCU veteran to express interest in playing a different role, as fellow Ant-Man movies star David Dastmalchian would love to be Morbius, which he revealed in October.

Laurence Fishburne's Multiple Comic Book Movie Universes

Laurence Fishburne as Perry White in Man of Steel

It should also be noted that Fishburne's experience in the MCU was not even his first or last time starring in a comic book adaptation. In fact, just a couple of years before showing up in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the actor reprised his Man of Steel role as The Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Fishburne actually already has the honor of being an actor with multiple Marvel movie characters under his belt, including one that predates the MCU, having lent his voice to 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as the eponymous humanoid alien — a role he shared with Doug Jones, who performed the motion capture. Not to mention, the actor's hypothetical Professor X casting would technically be his third MCU role, having also lent his voice to Disney Channel's animated series Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur (which he also executive produced) as both a reprisal of Bill Foster and the mischievous Beyonder.

Laurence Fishburne's movie roles that later became comic book characters, including the aforementioned Morpheus from The Matrix and Ronald Noland in 2010's Predators, should also not go unnoticed. Even discounting those, the actor is still easily one of the most prolific comic book movie stars in Hollywood history. What would be the harm in adding another notch in his resume by making him the MCU's official Professor X?

X-Men is streaming on Disney+.