We officially have a new team of mutants on the way, and while the cast continue to grow beyond what anyone initially reported (or so much as imagined), they already have a shiny bald psychic mentor to lead them. Christopher Abbott, who played The Foreigner in Kraven the Hunter and was rather divisive as a mangier-than-usual Wolf Man, will sit in the chair and read his students’ minds as the inimitable Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men and their home base for gifted youngsters.
Moreover, the dust hasn’t even settled, the books on the shelf in Xavier’s quarters aren’t arranged, or the seat on his wheels polished – let alone cameras rolled for one frame—before Abbott received an endorsement from someone who walked (only figuratively) in his shoes.
James McAvoy, the star of several X-films for 20th Century Fox starting with X-Men: First Class, gave his approval of Abbott taking over for the reboot and its generation of new mutants. At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), McAvoy gave his best wishes to Abbott and Marvel Studios for the direction they’re taking the famed superpowered IP.
“Good luck to him. Good luck, good luck, good luck. I just wish them well and good luck. I’m here to sell a different film, so I don’t really… [Marvel’s] got a massive publicity machine; they can sell their own [film]. But massive good luck to them!”
As a fan himself, McAvoy is excited for the production but noted he is hands-off when it comes to the publicity, as Marvel doesn’t really need help there. He also gave encouraging advice to Abbott, urging the actor, as he is breaking into the mainstream, not to be afraid of putting his own spin on things when portraying Chuck. McAvoy did the same when following the tough act of Patrick Stewart.
Disney acquired 20th Century Studios from Fox years ago in a move that reclaimed the rights to the Children of the Atom and the Fantastic Four for Marvel. Still, relaunches for both could not happen overnight and it's taking the span of an entire decade. The longest wait in MCU history ended last year with Fantastic Four: First Steps hitting theaters, and re-establishing the First Family in the Multiverse.
The X-Men's roster is taking shape—with Inde Navarrette as Rogue possibly the biggest get, followed by Adam Driver as Sinister—and only getting bigger. Asa Germann of Gen V fame recently joined the cast as Warren Worthington III, aka the winged Angel, whose involvement with the team goes back to the very beginning. His debut came in the monumental first issue of X-Men in 1963.
James McAvoy pretty much left Marvel behind for thrillers such as Glass, Speak No Evil (which was directed by Clayface helmer James Watkins), and his newest supernatural affair. Entitled Faith, it premiered at the TIFF earlier this month.
Before X-Men unleashes in 2028, Abbott will next appear in a Netflix adaptation of East of Eden alongside MCU mainstay Florence Pugh.
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