Warning! SPOILERS for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sees the MCU host the worst version of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X. Since the introduction of the multiverse in Loki, Marvel Studios has gained a more creative license in both its storylines and its characters. Spider-Man: No Way Home saw the nostalgic return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their respective web-slingers, and now Doctor Strange 2 has introduced several significant Marvel characters to the MCU, including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic, with both characters belonging to the Illuminati of Earth-838. Unfortunately, the Professor X of Doctor Strange 2 doesn’t quite match the telepathic mutant's reputation.
Sir Patrick Stewart made his first appearance as Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X, in the first live-action X-Men movie from 20th Century Fox in 2000, and he played the role in some capacity in six more movies in the franchise over the subsequent two decades. Ahead of the release of Doctor Strange 2, anticipation was high regarding his return as the character — now in the MCU — due to his voice being heard in the movie's trailer. The narrative was always going to struggle to satisfy that anticipation, however, and indeed, the appearance was ultimately underwhelming. The MCU's Professor X has a suspenseful entrance in his yellow chair from X-Men: The Animated Series, but beyond this and the reuse of his line from X-Men: Days of Future Past ("just because someone stumbles and loses their way, it doesn’t mean they’re lost forever"), he does very little in Doctor Strange 2.
Doctor Strange 2 is by no means the worst movie to feature Professor X, but there has never been a more disappointing use of the X-Men character on the big screen. While it is certainly apt that Patrick Stewart's Professor X should be the one member of Doctor Strange 2’s Illuminati to put faith in Strange, his impact in the movie, before his abrupt death, is negligible. Doctor Strange 2 director Sam Raimi seems to intentionally combine the charm element of cameos with the shock factor of their sudden and comically squishy deaths. The Illuminati’s demise is an important part of the narrative, showcasing the might and malevolence of a dreamwalking Scarlet Witch. Nevertheless, this makes Professor X seem much weaker than normal, which undercuts the excitement of having Stewart returning to the role.
Patrick Stewart’s performance might be missing some of the usual weight and solemnity of his Professor X, though this predominantly seems a problem with the divisive Doctor Strange 2 script. Indeed, Professor X's cameos in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine were more effective, even with the former being marred by dated de-aging effects, and the latter failing to explain how he was back in his own body following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Conversely, Doctor Strange 2 makes Professor X’s appearance plausible, but his influence in the movie is unfortunately limited to serving Scarlet Witch’s arc.
Indeed, Scarlet Witch is consequentially seen as unrelenting, and the Illuminati cameos at least therein do not unnecessarily deviate from the narrative. While having the iconic character among the expendable heroes is certainly underwhelming, it is important to remember that the Professor X that Patrick Stewart is cast as in Doctor Strange 2 is an inhabitant of Earth-838, not Earth-616 where the main timeline takes place. As such, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the multiverse is that Professor X may yet reappear in the MCU, just hopefully by more engaging means than is present in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
