Giancarlo Esposito Explains How He Would Play Charles Xavier And Discusses His Meeting With Marvel Studios

Giancarlo Esposito Explains How He Would Play Charles Xavier And Discusses His Meeting With Marvel Studios

During an appearance at Fan Expo Boston, The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito detailed how he would play Professor X in the MCU and talked about his meeting with Marvel Studios.

By DanielKlissmman - Aug 15, 2022 06:08 AM EST
Filed Under: X-Men
Source: Comicbook.com

There are certain performers that are on many fans' wish list to be in an MCU project, and one of them is Giancarlo Esposito. The actor has made a name for himself in Hollywood with his distinctively serious performances, delivering stoic, yet engagingly frightening antagonists. Esposito has experienced a rise in popularity in the pop-culture space thanks to his roles as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian and Stan Edgar in The Boys.

As mentioned, his performances have made him a fan-favorite candidate to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the actor himself is interested in becoming a part of the franchise. Esposito was recently in the news after expressing his desire to play Professor Charles Xavier in Marvel Studios eventual (but not officially announced) X-Men reboot, and discussing a meeting that took place between himself and the House of Ideas.

Now, Esposito has opened up about both revelations. During a Fan Expo Boston Panel (via Comicbook.com), the Better Call Saul actor detailed how he would approach Charles Xavier, who recently appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, played by Patrick Stewart: "I'd play that character with force, grace, and a calm. [...] Someone who controls the chaos but who also has the ability to uplift and inspire."

Force, grace and calm are attributes of most of Esposito's recent performances. Going by the actor's description, if he were to take on the role of Xavier, it would likely be similar to his performances in The Boys and The Mandalorian, save, of course, for their intimidating nature. 

Meeting With Marvel Studios

Giancarlo-Esposito-Banner

As mentioned, Esposito previously revealed he had had a meeting with Marvel Studios about a project. In his appearance at Fan Expo Boston (via Comicbook.com), the actor stated that, as he remembered, the meeting was about Disney+'s Loki

"In the Marvel Universe, if you do something in television — one character — you can't switch and play a different character. [...] So, out of that meeting, which was really wonderful, I had some interest in doing something with them which they've since done, I think it was Loki at that time, and someone else has done Loki — that's great — in television, and I'd like to be invited to the table to do something in film, because I have a big persona, and I've been in the television world for a while, and I've still got some movies each year."

By "you can't switch and play a different character," Esposito was likely not referring to a television actor being unable to switch over to film, given that a major selling point for Disney+'s MCU series is being in the same universe and carrying the same importance as its films. Esposito was probably talking about how, since the MCU is a unified franchise, portraying a character in one project disqualifies a performer from playing another one in another film or series.

The question is whether Esposito will indeed end up playing Charles Xavier, or if Marvel Studios will pick another actor for the past. It's unusual for such a high-profile performer to openly express their desire to join the MCU. Marvel Studios is famously secretive approach to its franchise, especially when it comes to casting.

Details about castings are usually kept tightly under wraps, with actors in consideration for specific roles even lying about their involvement with Marvel up until an official announcement is made (e.g., Paul Rudd for Ant-Man, Tatiana Maslany for She-Hulk and Andrew Garfield for Spider-Man). Esposito is being quite vocal about his desire to play Charles Xavier, which could indicate that the studio has not reached out to him for the part, nor is it interested in having him play the hero, given that the company would have likely asked him to keep his involvement a secret. 

As mentioned, Charles Xavier most recently appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now streaming on Disney+. 

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RokoVII
RokoVII - 8/15/2022, 6:13 AM
He would be perfect for the role. Please make this happen
Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 8/15/2022, 6:14 AM
Giancarlo when the MCU assassins run up on him:









UnderBelly
UnderBelly - 8/15/2022, 6:17 AM
This again?

Eh, look he's a good actor and I'm sure he's got some range outside of the villains from his recent works but professor X?

I dunno man...
TheBlueMorpho
TheBlueMorpho - 8/15/2022, 6:33 AM

oh Sh**
RitoRevolto
RitoRevolto - 8/15/2022, 6:37 AM
Do the actors who normally talk this much about their meetings with Marvel actually get cast? Jamie Dornan has yet to show up.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 8/15/2022, 7:21 AM
@RitoRevolto - Brie Larson didn't talk herself, but I remember about a month before the casting was announced there was a story connecting her to the role. (I think it was similar to a "Marvel is interested in..." angle, rather than specifically that they had met.) It may have been a trial balloon to gauge people's reaction, and this Esposito story may be that, too.

Personally, I don't think we can say that any specific behavior makes someone more or less likely to get these roles. Feige / Finn do seem to want to indulge fancasts and genuine enthusiasm around certain actors, but there doesn't seem to be a real rule about any of it.
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 8/15/2022, 7:54 AM
@Spock0Clock - Didn't the Shang-Chi actor get the job cause he was calling Disney racist before he was even on their radar?
SpaceParanoids
SpaceParanoids - 8/15/2022, 6:54 AM
The X-Men are so diverse already there is no need to race swap Xavier.
Just stay true to the source material. It’s iconic,
dragon316
dragon316 - 8/15/2022, 7:45 AM
@SpaceParanoids - it might happen they did it to valkery and nick fury few other characters
Spike101
Spike101 - 8/15/2022, 6:55 AM
So he spoke to them about a part in Loki but wasn’t interested because only wanted to do film and at no point was Professor X mentioned. How rumour builds stuff up out of nothing…. Plus if he had spoken about any part seriously enough for it to be moving forward he’d either have been sworn to secrecy or have been taken out by the snipers by now!
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 8/15/2022, 7:23 AM
Esposito is a great choice, but what really matters is how they write Charles, and how they conceive of introducing the X-Men to the MCU.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/15/2022, 7:30 AM
Charles has been known to be very morally ambiguous
marvel72
marvel72 - 8/15/2022, 8:03 AM
By the time The X-Men starts shooting,hopefully this race/gender swapping fad has passed.
loemination
loemination - 8/15/2022, 8:06 AM
Noo please don't!!! Giancarlo is a great actor, but not my Xavier!

Marvel should pick MARK STRONG!!!
MARK STRONG would be a better fit. Feige take note! Mark Strong for Charles Xavier. MARK STRONG
Cyclonus
Cyclonus - 8/15/2022, 8:19 AM
Nope, I do not want to see him as Prof X. Dude is a great actor but X-MEN are already diverse, no need to race swap Prof X just to pander and appease certain people and give us a token Prof X. Marvel at this point would really have some balls to have the X-MEN and FF characters actually look like they were originally created instead race/gender swapping characters, but we all know they are going to end up doing just to appease/pander to people.
EpicMan
EpicMan - 8/15/2022, 10:05 AM
@Cyclonus - Right on Man!
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 8/15/2022, 2:22 PM
@Cyclonus - These characters look different all the time. This guy can absolutely be Xavier. all that matters is how hes written.
Cyclonus
Cyclonus - 8/17/2022, 8:46 AM
@Toonstrack - Ok, then I'm willing to bet you wouldn't want Selena Gomez to play as Storm.
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 8/17/2022, 11:25 PM
@Cyclonus - there are no Latinos born in africa, where storm grew up. Xavier grew up in New York, where there are plenty of black people and Italians.
Cyclonus
Cyclonus - 8/18/2022, 3:50 PM
@Toonstrack - You missed the point, Xavier is white, plain and simple. Marvel doesn't need to virtue signal and pander to black people like myself and claim this is diversity.
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 8/22/2022, 10:13 PM
@Cyclonus - diversity is choosing whoever is the best to play the character. Not being tied down by 60 year old books. Nothing about his character requires him to he white in any way.
Cyclonus
Cyclonus - 8/24/2022, 8:37 AM
@Toonstrack - Ok then, lets cast Jason Momoa as Bishop then by that logic. Remember nothing about his character requires him to be black in any way, lol. We will just ignore how the character was created, drawn, looked and his comicbook history just to appease some people. I'm black and I'm not down with token version of characters.
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 8/24/2022, 2:09 PM
@Cyclonus - yes, aspects of bishop story probably do require him to be black, especially the implications of his treatment as a mutant.

Im black too, and you're buying into exactly the white man's ideology by implying black people and white people are on an equal playing field of power influence and representation. You need to educate yourself. A white person playing a black role has a long history rooted in oppression, that's not happened for the opposite. They arent equivalent.
Cyclonus
Cyclonus - 8/25/2022, 8:25 AM
@Toonstrack - LOL, sorry I don't think white people are better or superior to black people. I've been reading comics for over 25+ years and my great grandfather owned a farm in the south back in the 1930's and had white people working for him on his farm. I don't have the victim mindset kid. FYI Xavier is white.
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 8/25/2022, 12:45 PM
@Cyclonus - you were fine with them changing Xavier country of origin with Patrick Stewart. Hes supposed to be American. Why weren't you bothered with that?

See you've been used to them changing things about characters. So dont pretend to care now when its about his race. Its not tied to his character. He can be American, he can be British, he can be white, he can be any race the best actor is.
EpicMan
EpicMan - 8/15/2022, 10:05 AM
I get the vibe that this guy thinks very very highly of himself...
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