Patrick Stewart: Filming Professor X cameo in Doctor Strange 2 was "frustrating and disappointing"

The centerpiece of 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a scene in an alternate universe where Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) was brought before a tribunal of superheroes, each played by someone with ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe outside the proper Marvel Cinematic Universe, if you follow me. Reed Richards was played by John Krasinski, long a popular fancast for the character. Black Bolt was played by Anson Mount, who played him in the ABC show Inhumans. And Professor X was played by Patrick Stewart, who'd been playing the role in the X-Men movies for years.

It was a crowd-pleasing cameo-fest. And then, all of these characters were brutally murdered by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), which marked the fourth time Patrick Stewart has died in the role of Charles Xavier onscreen. (The other times, if memory serves, were in X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Logan.) As Josh Horowitz pointed out to Stewart on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, this is a pretty bad ratio.

Apparently, Xavier's death scene in Doctor Strange 2 wasn't particularly fun to film, since it was peak COVID times and all of the actors had to film their bits separately, at least according to Stewart. "I was alone," he said. "I think each one of the leading actors had the same experience. They were shot on their own."

"It was frustrating and disappointing. That's how it has been. The last few years have been challenging."

With COVID controls less restrictive than they once were, hopefully things are easier on sets. And given how often Professor X dies and comes back, Stewart can see himself returning to the role once more. "I do now have every confidence that he's still around."

Horowitz wondered if we might see Xavier in the upcoming Deadpool 3? "It has come up," Stewart said, neither confirming nor denying anything.

Given how meta Deadpool movies tend to get, I wouldn't be shocked if Stewart turned up. We'll see for sure when the movie comes out in theaters on July 26.

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