Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier had cameos in the first two “Wolverine” movies, but he apparently believes his role in the third and final Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie will be more substantial.
“There is a project in development,” Patrick Stewart tells Collider of Fox’s next and likely final Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie. “I understand that Professor Xavier will be making more than an appearance, however, and that intrigues me.
“I’m really looking forward to Hugh Jackman getting old. You know, damn him. He looks so great! So I’m hoping to see him covered in prosthetics, you know? And then he’ll make me look better if that’s the case.”
Hugh Jackman old? Is Stewart implying perhaps that the third movie will in fact be based (as often rumored) on “Old Man Logan,” which depicts Wolverine as an old man?
Now wait a second, Herc. Xavier is not in “Old Man Logan.”
This is true. But a strong argument can be made that there’s plenty of room in a film version for Professor X.
First off, “Old Man Logan” may be the most entertaining Wolverine story ever forged.
The print version of “Old Man Logan” was scripted by Mark Millar, also wrote the comics on which “Kingsman,” “Kick-Ass,” and “Captain America: Civil War” are based.
And Fox is very much in the Mark Millar business, having hired the writer to oversee the studio’s X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises. Fox’s widely reviled (though not by me) Josh Trank “Fantastic Four” movie borrows a lot from Millar’s run on Ultimate Fantastic Four.
Published in 2008 and 2009, "Old Man Logan" takes place more than 50 years in the future on Earth-807128. Most of the Marvel superheroes have been slain and the United States has been carved up into territories controlled by supervillains Kingpin, Doctor Doom, Red Skull and The Hulk.
Logan (he no longer uses his claws or identifies himself as “Wolverine” due to a horrific incident we learn about late in the story) lives with his wife and kids near Sacramento, now a component of Hulkland, where he must pay rent to the grotesque incest-derived offspring of Bruce Banner and Banner’s She-Hulk cousin, Jennifer Walters.
To raise cash and dodge eviction, Logan takes a job helping a blind Hawkeye on a cross-country journey to deliver a mysterious package to a destination back east.
Now the bad news is most of the characters in Old Man Logan are not controlled by Fox, so unless some sort of deal can be worked out between Fox and Disney, the movie won’t be able to utilize Hawkeye, Red Skull or Kingpin. Also, I think Universal might still have some control over the use of Hulk outside of the Avengers movies. So a lot would probably have to change.
And that’s where Xavier comes in. Stewart’s Fox-owned character could substitute for Hawkeye as Logan’s travelling companion in the tale.
James Mangold ("3:10 To Yuma"), who directed the excellent "The Wolverine" (but NOT the horrible "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") is attached to direct the next Wolverine movie as well.
Find Collider’s interview with Stewart here.
