Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen Not Returning for Next ‘X-Men’ Film
2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past ingeniously combined the Marvel cinematic franchise’s past and future by having actors from both the original series and the reboot duke it out in a time-twisting “exhilarating rush,” as Peter Travers wrote in his review of the film. However, despite the success of the “spectacular” sequel, it appears that the next X-Men film will once again only focus on the New Class cast that features James McAvoy, Michael Fassbinder and Jennifer Lawrence.
On Larry King Now, Patrick Stewart was asked whether he’d be returning to the franchise for 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, and the actor revealed that his Professor X and Ian McKellen’s Magneto were both written out of sequel. “I was learning quite a lot more about it last night, and it is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters. And so I don’t think we’ll be making an appearance,” Stewart told King (via Yahoo Movies). “Nor Sir Ian McKellen, either.”
Just because Stewart won’t reprise his Professor X in X-Men: Apocalypse, the door remains open for the actor to step back into the role in any number of the upcoming X-Men-related films on the horizon, including Channing Tatum’s planned Gambit movie, the Deadpool film starring Ryan Reynolds and the post-Apocalypse X-Men films, Variety reports.
The Bryan Singer-directed X-Men: Apocalypse, which adapts the popular comic book storyline of En Sabah Nur and his Four Horsemen, will hit theaters May 27, 2016 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Oscar Isaac in the role of the main antagonist.
