James McAvoy reveals his only criticism of the x-men franchise by reflecting on his role as Professor X, founder of the X-Men, in the FOX-produced Marvel film series. McAvoy joined the franchise in Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 prequel film X-Men: First Class as a younger version of the character first portrayed by Patrick Stewart, reprising his role in three subsequent films. X-Men: First Class introduced audiences to McAvoy’s Charles Xavier in 1962, where he meets young Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) and assembles a group of young mutants to take on Sebastian Shaw’s (Kevin Bacon) Hellfire Club, with subsequent films exploring later conflicts with X-Men enemies including the Sentinels, as well as recruiting the team’s most recognizable members.
In an interview with QGMcAvoy opened up about his time as Charles Xavier on FOX’s x-men franchise after addressing potential retaliatory rumors about the MCU role, revealing the only criticism he had of his time in the role through X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypseand X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The actor revealed that he felt subsequent films didn’t capitalize on the dynamic first established between Xavier and Lensherr in X-Men: First Class and further explore the couple’s complex relationship. Check out McAvoy’s full response below:
“My biggest criticism of what we did throughout the four films is that after the first film, we didn’t take advantage of the relationship between [Xavier and Magneto], which really formed the backbone of the first movie. So it was like, why did we just eject this massive weapon?
Is McAvoy Right About The X-Men Reboots Wasting Professor X And Magneto?
Professor Xavier and Magneto were two of the x-men the franchise’s most featured characters, played by McAvoy and Stewart, and Fassbender and Ian McKellan respectively in the majority of the franchise before Disney’s acquisition of the studio. While Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine is the franchise’s most recurring character in mainline entries, spinoffs, and cameo appearances, Xavier and Magneto were the other two mutants to receive significant attention in both their incarnations. older and younger. As such, both young and old versions of each mutant leader have become recognizable and memorable characters that stand out from the other X-Men members.
However, a problem with the appearances of young Xavier and Magneto across the x-men series was the repetitive nature of their dynamic compared to their older counterparts. While Stewart and McKellan were given stories with clear conclusions ahead of Stewart’s surprising MCU cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which saw the characters begin as enemies who eventually came together after facing off against the Sentinels, the young mutant figureheads of McAvoy and Fassbender fell into a cycle of seesaw between friend and foe in each of their films, beginning in a negative or friendly place, cashing in, then ending the film on friendlier terms. With the two characters’ relationships caught in a repetitive structure throughout the prequel’s four entries that retread their original dynamics, young Charles and Erik often found themselves relying on the clash between each character, rather than to develop and build on what was before.
With Mutantkind emerging in the MCU, many viewers are anticipating the inevitable debut of the franchise’s own version of the x-men, wondering how they might differ from FOX’s handling of the characters. As such, many dedicated fans of the characters will certainly be interested in hearing McAvoy’s honest thoughts on handling his incarnation of Professor X. With the MCU’s emphasis on long-term serialized storytelling and a diverse lineup of mediums that can explore the characters, perhaps the franchise’s new potential on each character could receive further and deeper exploration.
Source: QG