Though he made a valiant effort to deny his involvement in previous interviews, Sir Patrick Stewart now seems to be fully aware that pretty much everyone realized that he made an appearance in the recent trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and has finally confirmed that he's set to reprise the role of Charles Xavier in the Marvel Studios sequel.
While speaking to Jakes Takes, Stewart gave up on all pretences and spoke openly about fans' reaction to spotting him in the teaser.
“Well, I had my phone turned off as it happened, so I didn’t hear anything. It wasn’t until the next morning when I woke up and looked at my phone and found that I had been bombarded with responses and that my PR people had sent me reactions that they had detailed and passed onto me. I actually didn’t recognize my own voice, it sounded different. Whether I had a cold or something at the time, I don’t know. But I was astonished, and all they saw was the back of my shoulder, and I think my earlobe, nothing else. There would have been so many connections made. But, uh, it pleased me.”
As far as we know, Professor X will be a member of a Multiversal Illuminati along with several other characters (you'll have to look 'em up!). Whether he'll remain on board as the MCU's take on the iconic X-Men leader remains to be seen, but there's a good chance a younger actor will be cast once Marvel Studios begins working on that reboot.
In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
The Doctor Strange sequel releases in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2022.