Patrick Stewart, who plays Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is "extremely thrilled and quite proud" of his part
Actor Patrick Stewart has made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, repeating his role as the ‘X-Men franchise's Professor Charles Xavier. Stewart has spoken out about returning to a familiar, yet distinct, character in the film, according to a report by Variety.
"It took about a day and a half," the actor told Variety.
He further added, "I was in a totally different setting from the one that I had ever been in, in any of the ‘X-Men’ movies. And, as in Star Trek: Picard, I was glad for it because it allowed me to think about who he was and how he interacted with people in”
Stewart also contrasted his reappearance as Xavier to revisiting his position as the main character in ‘Star Trek: Picard' — whose second season finale aired one day before the official theatrical premiere of ‘Multiverse of Madness’. "Just like Picard, I was a little uncertain at first if that was a sensible thing to do," Stewart remarked, "Given that Logan had been such a dramatic movie and we witnessed him die in Hugh Jackman’s arms. So, after seeing [Multiverse of Madness] on Monday night, I'm quite delighted and glad to have been a part of it.”
The 81-year-old actor last played Charles Xavier in 2017's ‘Logan’, when the character was slain by Logan's lethal and vicious clone ‘X-24’. The counterpart in ‘Multiverse of Madness’, on the other hand, is a variety of Charles from somewhere in the multiverse — who meets a similar destiny as a member of the enigmatic, multiversal conclave known as the Illuminati. This alternate form resembles the character featured in the ‘X-Men’ animated series from the 1990s, and Stewart revealed his experience navigating a live-action version of the character's recognisable yellow wheelchair.
"It was completely unlike the Porsche that I was driving in the pictures," Stewart added. "That was a highly swift and manoeuvrable wheelchair. And I was shocked when I first saw the monster I'd be driving in this one. But everything was OK. It worked extremely nicely" he said.
"I had to stop it before a flight of stairs," the actor explained. "My main fear was that I would lose control and go all the way down the stairs in this contraption!" he added.
Stewart has played Charles Xavier for the ninth time, beginning with X-Men in 2000.
"It was a very, very different universe from the ‘X-Men’ movies, with allusions here and there, of course, But I was very, very delighted," Stewart remarked of the movie.
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, directed by Sam Raimi, is out in cinemas.