One day, the planets will align, and the birds will sing as the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s longest-awaited prophecy comes true; indeed, at some point, we will in fact be introduced to Kevin Feige’s iteration of the X-Men, and just how one of the world’s pop culture mega giants will handle the politically complex superhero team is anyone’s guess.
But before you figure out how to portray the team, you have to figure out how to portray the members of said team, and there’s no better starting point than Professor Charles Xavier (aka Professor X), the leader of the X-Men and one of the canon’s most powerful psychics.
Like every member of the X-Men, Professor X could realistically be handled in a variety of ways, but the knock-on effects of his characterization given his status as a leader make the topic an extra-special point of interest, and the folks of r/marvelstudios have taken to hashing the possibilities out.
Anyone familiar with the X-Men knows that there’s plenty of potential for Professor X to be a paragon of morality, and just as much space for him to occupy as a morally ambiguous manipulator, and for one user, the right path entirely depends on how far along in the X-Men timeline we audiences are introduced to the team.
A grayer Professor X seems like the obvious choice, as it theoretically lends itself to a much more interesting character, but another user was worried that such a route would spill over onto Magneto, who could then, God forbid, receive the Killmonger treatment as a result.
One other responder pointed out that the identity of Professor X is a matter of perspective for each member of the X-Men; a character like Cyclops wouldn’t see him the same way as Jubilee would, for instance. If the MCU plays its cards right, this could be one of the franchise’s most intriguing dynamics.
In any case, if there was ever a group of superheroes that Marvel absolutely needed to stick the landing with, it’s the X-Men. Not only do they consist of some of the most beloved characters in the Marvel library, but their reputation for being ahead of their time has never been taken lightly by the fans, so here’s hoping that Professor X and his beloved X-Men are given the justice they deserve.