Sir Patrick Stewart has opened up about his initial thoughts on doing Logan, especially with how director James Mangold wanted to depict Professor Charles Xavier - old, dependent and fragile. Just like Hugh Jackman who took on the role as Wolverine in 2000, the British actor has been reprising his role as the telepathic mutant for 17 years and has appeared in seven feature films (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Logan) in the Fox Marvel Universe.

But all good things must come to an end, and Stewart decided to take the opportunity to bow out from his iconic role in Jackman's last go as the scruffy Canadian superhero. The veteran actor eventually realized that he was actually thrilled that he jumped on the project because of the wonderful time he has had doing the project, despite the fact that it will be his final outing as the beloved X-Men leader. In the aforementioned film, both Professor X and Wolverine (who originally had fast physical healing prowess) were dealing with getting the notion of getting old  Watching the film was difficult - especially seeing superheroes like them struggle even with the most normal activities - but something about it grounded the characters, which in turn made for an emotional story.

In a new interview with the Mirror UK, Stewart has shared that he was worried about being typecast in projects as an old man moving forward after Logan.  While the 76-year-old actor admitted that he is uneasy with the subject of mortality with the recent deaths of his batchmates in showbusiness like Alan Rickman and Leonard Nimoy, he said that he is still up for more acting:

“There might have been moments before Logan when I thought, ‘If I do this and I really go for it, am I only going to get cast as geriatrics from now on?’ I am not quite there yet [laughs]!"

As the production progressed, Stewart found himself having a great time on-set causing his troubles slowly dissipate:

"Will people say, 'Oh, no, we can't have him playing a healthy, fit individual. He is just too weak and frail and old.' But screw it! It was so much fun.... And I enjoyed every aspect of it, particularly given that I was going to be sharing almost all of my time with Hugh [Jackman]."

Logan turned up to be both a critical and massive success. It has raked over $600 million at the box office - a pretty great number for an R-rated film. It was also very well-received with critics citing its fresh take on the thriving superhero genre with the infusion of Western elements not to mention the cast's performance, from Stewart and Jackman to Dafne Keen - the young actress who played X23/Laura.

It is difficult to imagine the X-Men universe without Stewart and Jackman, given that they were the characters that kicked off the franchise almost two decades ago. But with a fitting of a farewell in Logan, fans can take solace that Mangold was able to craft well-deserved swan song to well-loved characters. Meanwhile, the Fox Marvel Universe will continue with different plans set for the future including the much-anticipated Deadpool 2, as well as, X-Men: Dark Phoenix film featuring the younger version of Professor X brilliantly played by James McAvoy.

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Source: Mirror UK