X-MEN Star Sir Patrick Stewart Says He's Been Told "To Standby" For DEADPOOL 3

While the big trailer reveal that Sir Patrick Stewart's Professor X would appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness should have come as a surprise, it didn't. Yes, we'd seen some leaked pre-viz images, but the actor confirmed way back in 2021 that he'd met with Kevin Feige, making it obvious he was being lined up for a future MCU project.

Now, he's at it again, strongly hinting that we can expect him to return as Charles Xavier in Deadpool 3. 

Talking to ComicBook.com, Stewart was asked if there's a chance he'll show up as the mutant hero in the Merc with the Mouth's team-up with Wolverine and responded, "I've been told to standby. I know nothing more than that, honest."

Why tell him to "standby" if he's not needed?

There have already been rumblings about the threequel featuring major cameos, though this is an interesting decision when James McAvoy actually briefly showed up in Deadpool 2 as the leader of the X-Men. The franchise has always had to play fast and loose with continuity thanks to Fox, though, so we won't lose too much sleep over that.

With rumours swirling that the next Deadpool movie sets the stage for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, we can't help but wonder whether Marvel Studios will perhaps use this as a way of elaborating on Professor X killing the X-Men prior to the events of Logan. Revealing Kang was somehow behind that could be divisive, but would nicely tie these worlds together. 

With the Fantastic Four cast from the mid-2000s expected to show up and now Stewart, it feels like Deadpool 3 will definitely serve as a grand farewell for Fox's X-Men Universe. Many fans will surely welcome that despite the franchise's decline in quality in later years, and it should help set the stage for Deadpool and a new take on the X-Men being welcomed into the MCU.

Deadpool 3 is set to be released in theaters on November 8,  2024.