Giancarlo Esposito tells con crowd he’s putting a Professor X casting “out in the universe”
Addressing a comics convention crowd down in Texas this weekend, Esposito said he's "been in a room and talked to" Marvel about joining the MCU
Aux News Giancarlo Esposito
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star Giancarlo Esposito has clearly been brushing up on his study of The Law Of Attraction of late, telling fans at a comics convention down in Texas today that he’s putting a potential Marvel movie role “out in the universe.” This is per a lively clip filmed by Countdown City Geeks that’s been circulating on TikTok today, in which the Mandalorian actor took the stage at the TJH Superhero Car Show & Comic Con in San Antonio and said that he’s “been in a room and talked” with Marvel Studios about potentially signing on to the franchise, making the leap from Disney’s Star Wars properties to its other big cinematic tentpole.
As to what part Esposito might play after making such a move, he was decidedly coy, only noting that people have floated rumors that he might take on the roles of villains Magneto, “Dr. Freeze” (?), and Doctor Doom…but stating that, if he had his druthers, it’d be the role of the more heroic Professor X he’d prefer to take, with that being the one that’s getting his personal The Secret treatment.
And, look: Under most normal circumstances, slotting Esposito—who massively invigorated his career and more or less immediately typecast himself with his steely turn as Chicken Man Gustavo Fring on Breaking Bad—into various comic book bad guy roles would be little more than the typical fan-casting wankery that makes up so much of internet conversation. This case is slightly different, though, in so much as the man himself is obviously fully on-board: If nothing else, he’s signaling some clear interest to Marvel, and maybe even a little bit of pressure, to consider him for the jobs.
Marvel Studios has, meanwhile, stayed very quiet about its cinematic plans for the X-Men characters especially; Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Charles Xavier in what was, essentially, an extended cameo in Doctor Stranger In The Multiverse Of Madness, but beyond that, Kevin Feige and his crew haven’t even announced when the mutant characters might make a formal entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As to Doctor Doom, the presence of a Fantastic Four movie on the company’s calendar (and the presence of Doom’s fellow FF villain, Namor, in this year’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) certainly suggests that the company will have to make a decision on that pivotal casting a little sooner. But we’ll be honest, and agree a bit with Esposito himself here: It might be more interesting, at this point, to see him devote his prodigious talents to playing a Marvel good guy, instead of repeating himself as one of its most iconic villains.
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Xavier? Interesting. I could see it.As for Doom? I’m still 100% for Mads Mik but I could see Giancarlo bringing an excellent vibe.
A little old for Xavier potentially though, no?I mean if they’re starting with mutants from scratch they probably need more of a First Class look and approach.
He’s only four years older than Stewart was in X-Men. He does look a lot older than Stewart though, who somehow still looks twenty years younger than he should.I don’t really like it in any case. Maybe he’s just too much of a villain in my head, but something doesn’t quite fit. If they’re doing colorblind casting, I think Jeffrey Wright would make a great Xavier, although that complicates his current position as Uatu.
He’s four years older than Stewart was when X-Men came out. The new X-Men film hasn’t even started filming yet and may not for a few years.
The difference between 58 and 66 is not that big. Stewart literally just reprised his twenty year old role this year. The point is that he’s not too old to play the role based on any reasonable criteria. Xavier isn’t going to be doing a whole of parkour. Esposito could die tomorrow, or he could die at 96. I think it’s safe enough to assume that he’ll probably be around for long enough to film a few movies this decade if they do decide to hire him.
Not saying it can’t be done, just saying people who compare Esposito to Stewart tend to overlook that there is actually a major difference in the relative ages when they would film their first movies. My guess is Marvel is going to go younger. Not because it isn’t possible for Esposito to do it, but beause it’s more probable that a younger actor will still be working for 10-15 years. And honestly, I’m not even really thinking about health or anything like that. I’m wondering if Esposito would even want to keep working a full-time gig when he gets into his mid to late 70s.
And I’m just saying that there’s actually not a major difference in relative ages because unless you’re Clooney handsome, being 50 makes you just as much a grandpa as being 80 does. Even if he doesn’t start filming until he’s 70, there wouldn’t be a practical difference between him and Stewart filming in his 50s. The role is literally inert, a guy sitting in a chair and putting his fingers to his head. Stewart could still play him at 105.It’s also hardly a full time job. I’m not sure what Feige has planned for the X-Men, but I doubt it’s three films and a Dark Phoenix culmination. I think we’re going to see a radically different sort of X-Men story and Xavier is going to get pretty short shrift in it. He’ll probably end up in 199999’s Illuminati for brief appearances after only a few films. Younger mutants like Kamala are more important and interesting in the MCU, and their stories don’t need Xavier to function.
Don’t know how old you are but ten years is a major difference no matter how old you are. And that is the actual potential difference here because X-Men very well could not start filming until 2025 given it was not announced and there are rumors that Disney cannot recast until then due to contracts Fox had with actors of the previous movies.I am not doubting Giancarlo could do the role all the same. But you’re making assumptions about Xavier’s role in the Disney X-Men franchise that I’m not. I would assume Disney wants him around for 10-15 years because that has been their approach with every notable comic book character. And if that is the case, I wouldn’t be surprised if they go younger.
So I’m making assumptions that you’re not, and you’re making assumptions that I’m not, and we’re coming to different conclusions? Are you explaining to me how disagreements work?Or not even that, since my only point was that Esposito is not too old for the role, and you’ll allow that he’s not too old for the role, only that they may want to go younger. Yeah they might, and maybe they’ll cast a white dude just like they always have too. Since we’re all just speculating here, I’m not sure why exactly you’re trying to dispute my original post. Surely you must have something to dispute if you’re going to insist that he is actually going to be far older than Stewart was, despite the fact that Stewart is still playing the role in his 80s. You’d already made a separate post with your full opinion of the matter on the article, so why also address me regarding something so immaterial?
My only real point is that Esposito and Stewart’s situations are not the same – that a potential ten year difference is a big one. I see a lot of people saying something along the lines of “Stewart did it for 22 years so Esposito could too.” And I don’t think that’s a sound assumption to make.The rest is just plain opinion, I agree.
He’s also Gordon in the latest Batman.
I like the idea of Esposito as Xavier, but I think you topped it with Jeffrey Wright. That’s really good
I’m with you on Jeffrey Right. And I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I kind of wish Samual Jackson wasn’t Nick Cage because I would love to see his version of Prof. X I imagine a take of someone who used to agree with Magneto a lot more but then changed his mind.
They’re going to need some multiverse-bending explanation for why there are suddenly thousands of mutants in the MCU out of nowhere, after mutants were never mentioned throughout 15 years of MCU content. Casting a young Xavier in his 20s or 30s doesn’t really fix this problem, because the mutants are all meant to have discovered their powers during puberty — so then why didn’t Professor X or Magneto do anything about Thanos, when they would have already been adults during the Blip?If they’re going to kind of collapse another universe with the Sacred Timeline to bring in recently acquired IP from the Fox acquisition, then they might as well cast Xavier and Magneto deep into middle age, as they’ve usually been portrayed in the comics.
It doesn’t feel Like they’re going to do a mutants have been around for 15 years retcon. But maybe a they’ve been around since sometime after the Blip + 1 year or so the movies so far have covered plus Ms Marvel since she seems to be the first mutant. Seems like we could get a young Xavier that’s found some mutants during that time and the big mutant reveal could be during The Marvels.
So far the options I could see for explaining Mutants:
Side effect of the Blip. We’ve already seen that Carol and Wanda got powers from the Infinity Stones.Side effect of Thanos destroying the Infinity Stones. All that power had to go somewhere/somewhen.
Side effect of the unborn Celestial from Eternals. All that raw life power had to go somewhere/somewhen.
They’ve been there the entire time but psychics have kept them hidden. Mainly Xavier and the Hellfire Club.
Multiverse refugees. Yay Incursions?
Spider-Man’s fault thanks to No Way HomeHigh Evolutionary did it (he was actually cast!)Deadpool’s time travel shenanigans from the end of Deadpool 2 had severe side effects. They’ve been around the entire time but aren’t nearly as common as they were in comics so they go unnoticed and the more radical ones more bold thanks to the age of superheroes.
They’re all in Marvel Canada, which is just the worst.
Secret Wars would seem like the logical way to integrate them into the mainline universe, assuming it bears a resemblance to the recent Secret Wars comic run.They would probably want to at least introduce them a bit before that tho.
They’ve been around the entire time but aren’t nearly as common as they were in comics so they go unnoticed and the more radical ones more bold thanks to the age of superheroes.Honestly, this is the best option, though I also really like it stemming from use of Infinity stones.
You could potentially have some mutants out there who just aren’t unified in anyway or publicly known. Similar to First Class, but push up the timeline. In First Class, they do establish that mutants have been around for a good chunk of time without being widely known. Logan/Wolverine has always worked on that premise as has the existence of people like Apocalypse. It’s possible that you have a Xavier chilling in Westchester who thinks he’s one of the only or the few.Similarly, Xavier is capable of hiding his school and hiding the true situation (i.e. It’s the school for Talented and Gifted Youngsters, not overtly a mutant school). He could be actively hiding the existence of mutants. The XMCU films did establish that he was able to erase knowledge of their exploits from government records. So I do think you could play the we’ve been around for a while, but we’re just trying to be normal people, not superheroes.
“They’re going to need some multiverse-bending explanation for why there are suddenly thousands of mutants in the MCU out of nowhere, after mutants were never mentioned throughout 15 years of MCU content”
They won’t, because that doesn’t actually matter. If they can go 3+ movies and shows where no one so much as says “Hey it’s weird that the Indian Ocean is now a dead god reaching for the sky, right?” then they can say “also there’s mutants everywhere” and the only people that care will still be isolated pockets of internet continuity nerds.
The radiation from the Snaps, I’d argue mentioning that was the first real seed of mutants. It could be some of the folks left behind, since they received multiple exposures
In the comics the majority of the population didn’t know about mutants for decades because people like Xavier and co covered it up and started wiping peoples memories if they ever found out. They could easily go down this route. Have it that the populations of the world see all the incidents that have happened as we have but the truth is very different. Show an alternate Avengers 1 where there were mutants all around the Avengers doing their part. I mean it was a bit far fetched that just 6 hero’s could hold back an alien invasion.
Do it as a huge retcon. Show bits of the past where mutants have helped out but their involvement has been hidden by powerful mutants. you could show a few different iterations of the X-Men during these.
Oh, I dunno. P-Stew was 60 in X-men, 74 in Days of Future Past. G-Esp is 62.
Mads was already the villain in the first Doctor Strange film.
One word, multi (wait for it)… verse.
I wish I hadn’t waited for it.
Didn’t they waste Mads already as a forgettable villain in the first Dr. Strange movie?
Oh, I am aware. But hey, multiverse. Plus it’s not like you’re ever gonna see his (perfect) face anyway. At least he got maybe my favourite/dumbest joke in all the MCU, I guess.
Oh shit, this would work for me.
It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Patrick Stewart in that role, but I think he’d be a great choice as one of those people.
That’s what I was thinking. Esposito in the role is definitely a different enough direction and a strong enough actor to make me not do automatic comparisons to Patrick Stewart all the time.
I like the idea. If the rumors about Disney not being able to start development on X-Men until 2025 (because of contracts Fox had with Singer and actors from the Fox movies) are true though, he’s going to be pushing 70 by the time the first MCU X-Men movie comes out. And 3-4 movies could take him close to his 80s.Patrick Stewart kept playing Professor X into his 80s (albeit his latest role was a glorified cameo) so certainly possible. Wouldn’t be surprised if Disney chooses to find someone a bit younger though.
I think it depends on what they want the X-Men focus to be on. People are going to want Xavier and Magneto which is going to mean adjusting a lot of timelines and backstories to make that work – Either you need to establish that Magneto ages slowly or he can’t be a Holocaust survivor at this point. Or, you decide that the Fox-focused characters have too much baggage and focus on other people. Could be one of the New Mutants-line ups with Ms Marvel as a potential starting point. Could be focusing more on some of the heavy hitters from the comics who never made it as big in the movies – Kitty comes to mind. There have been rumors that Jon Hamm is still in talks to be Mr Sinister. If you do decide to go with a different line up and use the fan favorites for animated series or Disney+ “flashback” shows, you might not need Xavier and Magento on the front lines.My biggest hope is that we won’t hear the words “Dark Phoenix” ever again.
Hamm would be a fucking awesome Magneto.Mr. Sinister is stupid, it doesn’t even make sense to introduce him until there plenty of established mutants. I don’t know how he could work early since he needs mutants to exist to play his genetics BS.
I think part of the “still” in talks stems from the fact he filmed for New Mutants. I agree he could be a solid Magneto depending on how they plan to introduce them.I think you could make a case for Sinister or at least Essex Corp being a means of introducing various groups of mutants since the Ms Marvel “reveal” suggested there may be mutants coming from multiple sides – those impacted by Infinity Stones like Monic Rambeau via The Hex, those with alien origins like Ms Marvel and then traditional mutants. Someone researching that could be a player that brings them together.
He’d be great, but he’d be pushing 70 by the time any movie got to theaters. They could do that, but they’d either have to be from one of the multi-verses (which would probably be best), or they’d have to explain why they’ve been sitting on their hands for decades, and they don’t have “alien daddy said so” to use as an excuse like the Eternals.
I mean, I do think they can explain where all the mutants have been by simply playing that none of them have been trying to be superheroes, which really tracks with Professor X’s early goals. To the public, the school could just look like a school and they’ve just been flying under the radar with a telepath who is capable of literally erasing knowledge of their existence. Similarly, you could make the present day the turning point in terms of the number of mutants – the moment it goes from few and far between to a large number of mutants.
Then you just need an excuse to make him decide to fight.Either Xavier and Magento have to be old or they need completely new backstories. Either works. I think them being in the background, semi-hiding will please more fans than entirely new backstories, but that’s just a hunch.
Why the fuck not…?¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just never let him speak Spanish again on-camera, Jesus. Oof.
Giancarlo Esposito as Professor X would be excellent, I think. Especially because Professor X is less a “hero” and more of a “chessmaster willing to do whatever it takes to make it seem like mutants aren’t a threat to humanity and that they can live side by side while also training an army of mutant child soldiers to bring down any group of human or mutant terrorists that threaten them.”
He has the gravitas but I’d much rather see him in a role where he can really chew the scenery and Professor X isn’t really that.
When Charles Xavier be like Dr Who?
Acting-wise, great idea. He 100% has the gravitas (although I’d like more to see his take on someone anti-heroish like Magneto, if they decided to somehow change his origin story to make it more contemporary).
One other thought: it could be great to look beyond an established and recognized name and maybe search for a promising actor that is maybe also a wheelchair user?
I know Xavier is able to walk sometimes, but he was introduced as a wheelchair user and it had (for better or worse) some impact on his character (I mean, I hope today we can do better than “Woe is me, I’m so old and disabled, my cute but decades younger protegee is out of my league!”, a lot interesting stuff could be done with it). So as far as disability representation goes, he’s definitely an example (even if the focus is on his mutant powers – which is good, because not every character with a disability should be mainly about that disability).
And in before any usual “the best actor should get the job, stop this PC madness” counter-points: I’m not arguing for casting just anybody. Just maybe let’s check if the community of actors with disabilities has someone suitable before we settle for a more familiar, able-bodied face.
This could be a gamechanger for somebody that is currently struggling to find recognition because of ableism in the industry – just like Tyrion was a gamechanger for Peter Dinklage and I don’t think anybody’s disputing that casting choice.
I’d love him as Xavier but I think they will go for a Muppet Babies style first.
I could totally see him as Doom
He’s been around forever and getting to the point where if he’s ever gonna get big money, supes are the only game left. That’s due to the monopolies that all the corporate takeovers have created. Good luck to this man.
100% can see him as Xavier. He could 100% play the softer, fatherly Xavier but also the more sinister Xavier of the last decade and half. Oh he could also play Sinister!I do hope they keep Magneto as a Jewish, survivor of the Holocaust. Yes, that would make him extremely old but they can handwave that away. Now this doesn’t mean he has to be white, mind you…just that he’s Jewish and survived/host his family to the concentration camps
I think he’s almost too old to keep his Jewish Nazi Holocaust backstory, he’d have to be like a baby in the concentration camps. Horrible but wouldn’t exactly be in his memory. Unless they do some handwavey de aging / alt universe thing. I’ve always thought they can slot in Sokovia as a holocaust concentration camp backstory, it seems to be a good fill in for generic horrible Eastern European backstory.
I’m curious to know more about this Dr Freeze!
I have zero problem with them changing a character’s race or gender most of the time. The only issue i can see here is the old money that the Xavier family comes from.
the absolute funniest part of everyone’s reaction to this is there isn’t one person asking for mcavoy back haha.