Former Charles Xavier actor James McAvoy shared his pick for who should play the MCU's Professor X, and it is a star already working in the Marvel universe. From 2011 to 2019, McAvoy brought the iconic leader of the X-Men to life in Fox's reboot of its mutant-based fare. However, his time came to an end, as Disney (and, in turn, Marvel Studios) acquired Fox and paved the way for the MCU to introduce its own take on the marvelous X-Men.
During an appearance at New York Comic-Con (NYCC), James McAvoy revealed that he thinks Rustin actor Colman Domingo should play Professor X in the MCU. As shared online by MCU Film News on X, McAvoy posited that "Colman Domingo sounds amazing [for the role]."
He added that he is "excited...[to] be a fan again," heading into the MCU's X-Men reboot, with what seems to be no love lost over him having to hand the torch off to a new generation of mutant actors:
"Look, I’m excited to see what happens next. I was a fan before I was an employee, and I'll be a fan again!"
What is notable about McAvoy's MCU Professor X pick is that Domingo is already under the Marvel Studios umbrella. The Academy Award-nominated star is bringing Norman Osborn to life in the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man series, which will return for its second season next fall.
Some even speculated whether Domingo could play his Your Friendly Neighborhood character in a live-action MCU project, but that remains purely fan-casting.
Domingo's name has also been thrown around for various other Marvel characters over the years, including Magneto, Doctor Doom, and (most notably) as a potential Kang the Conqueror replacement.
Marvel Studios' X-Men is reportedly set to play a significant role in the MCU's post-Secret Wars plans. No official casting details have been released, but it has been reported that the film will feature a new cast of actors bringing the iconic mutant team to life. The MCU X-Men film will be directed by Thunderbolts* filmmaker Jake Schreier, and a recent report pegged it as the first movie of Marvel's Phase 7 slate.
Will Colman Domingo Play Professor X?
While Colman Domingo is a popular name among viral fan-casts for the MCU X-Men project, no official announcement has been made at this point, and no actor has been attached to the project.
Marvel would be lucky to have an actor of Domingo's talents bring to life a character as important as Professor X, but for now, it remains mere fan conjecture and nothing more.
It would be exciting to see Domingo play Charles Xavier in the MCU reboot, but he might be more fit for another character in the super-powered franchise. Some pondered whether the two-time Academy Award nominee could portray a new version of the Magneto character in the MCU, standing opposite another big-name actor in the role of Charles Xavier.
One popular idea that circulated online is changing the Magneto origin story for the MCU X-Men reboot, making him a Black man and survivor of the horrors of racism in America rather than the Holocaust origin story the character often gets in Marvel lore. This could be a fun way to modernize the Magneto story for the big screen while commenting on the current state of the world, similar to how the original Magneto origins did.
