Recently, James McAvoy opened up about one of his most iconic roles and why he never followed it up with a sequel. No, I’m not talking The Chronicles of NarniaAnd I’m definitely not talking about his X-Men films. Rather, McAvoy discussed WantedA 2008 film starring him alongside Angelina Jolie and General Zad himself, Terence Stamp. Based on the comic of the same name, Wanted Follows an office worker named Wesley when he uncovers his father’s secret double life as a murderer.
The film was a financial success, and the studio Green had a sequel, but it never came to fruition. For McAvoy, none of the follow-up scripts were as strong as the first, and then he slowly withdrew from the role before production could be blocked. What he has to say about it Wanted He casts no hope of McAvoy joining the MCUs version of the X-Men in question.
The X-Men star feels he has aged out of one of his biggest roles
McAvoy starred in Wanted Three years before he took on the role of Charles Xavier in X-Men: First ClassWhen he was 29 years old. According to McAvoy, not revisiting Wanted was not a conscious decision; A sequel just never came together. McAvoy explained his perspective on the canceled sequel:
“There were a couple of scripts that came my way for sequels, but they weren’t strong enough, so that’s why they never happened. If there was a script out there that was absolutely banging, then, yes, I would Be disappointed. But we did something that I’m really proud of Timur [Bekmambetov] Was really proud of it. The studio was really proud of it. Everyone was really excited by it, and it kind of stood the test of time. It’s always on streamers, and people are always watching it. I still get so much love for him from young people who weren’t alive then. So I’m proud of what we did, and I wouldn’t want to close it by doing something that’s not quite as strong.”
In addition to his creative sources about a Wanted Sequel. McAvoy felt that he no longer suited the role. The actor said: “Look, I’m too old to play Wesley now anyway. It is now a role of a young man.“While I understand that Wesley and Professor X are fundamentally different characters, McAvoy’s comments about age make me worry that he may feel similar to himself in a X-Men Film.
Why a James McAvoy MCU return still makes sense
Charles Xavier is not a role for youth
that is, McAvoy is young enough to play Charles Xavier. In fact, he may be more appropriately aged to play the leader of the X-Men at 45 than he was at 32. Professor X is most often portrayed as being on the older side of middle-aged, with the original films opting to Find actors in the 60s for him and Magneto to keep the origin of the latter consistent. The decision then led to the X-Men franchise casting McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as their younger counterparts.
Because McAvoy is intentionally cast as a younger Xavier, he is nowhere near at risk of aging from the X-Men And MCU franchises. For perspective, he is 14 years younger than Robert Downey Jr., the same age as Chris Pratt, and two years older than Chris Evans. Furthermore, Professor X does not have the same exacting physical demands as superhero roles like Wolverine or Superman.
In particular, McAvoy always portrayed Xavier as nuanced and intelligent. I think Public perception of him as Professor X was unfairly tainted by a combination of love for Patrick Stewart and the poor reception of the later X-Men films. An actor of his caliber would be an asset to the MCU, even if he only plays a small role. With the multiversal angle that Marvel is taking, the actor could easily be among fellow former actors making cameos in Avengers: Secret WarsAnd he probably should be.
The MCU has big plans for the X-Men
As for whether he would return to the X-Men films, McAvoy has only one caveat: he needs a good story. Speaking to Screen Rant, the actor said:
“Listen, for me as an actor, if I’m going to go back and play a character that I’ve already played? I’d want it to be a new, different reinterpretation or new explored version or something like that. The only thing that makes me take No work is whether the script is good, and whether the character is interesting, and it would also have to be the case that I get offered that, so this is completely hypothetical.
“But I feel like they’re moving on, they’re doing new things and they’re going to do great things. They always do. But I would never say no to something if I hadn’t seen a script, and I would never say yes to something if the script was really bad.”
McAvoy’s perspective on reprising Professor X is “never say never;” However, he also said that he “Have to investigate a note from Professor X” And he feels “Quite satisfied with that [he] came out of him as a performer.” This could be a point in the MCU’s favor because if he is invited back, it would most likely be for the next two Avengers films. I would imagine that no actor would be tempted to be a part of this iconic franchise, much less an actor like McAvoy who played an equally iconic Marvel hero for four movies.
Another possibility that could lure McAvoy to the MCU is a promise of reuniting with Fassbender. He once revealed that his biggest criticism of the X-Men films was that they “Did not benefit from the relationship between [Xavier and Magneto]which actually formed the backbone of [X-Men: First Class.]” A final team-up (or battle) could be epic enough to inspire the actor to come back, and I find this idea a fitting way to send off the era of X-Men films.
Patrick Stewart may have already beaten him to be the first Professor X in the MCU, but that doesn’t mean McAvoy wouldn’t be a welcome presence. After all, we got a movie with three Spider-Man variants. McAvoy rejoining the X-Men in the MCU Is a long shot, but if the script is good, us fans might just win.
Source: movieweb, The Hollywood Reporter