Giancarlo Esposito Confirms He's Met With Marvel Studios, Says He Wants to Play Professor X

The actor shared the news during TJH's Superhero Car Show & Comic Con: 'I have not worked for Marvel yet. I’ve been in a room with them and talked with them.'

August 7, 2022

Giancarlo Esposito attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series — Image via Getty/Alberto E. Rodriguez
Getty

Giancarlo Esposito could be heading to the MCU.

The 64-year-old actor addressed the possibility during a Friday appearance at TJH’s Superhero Car Show & Comic Con in San Antonio. While taking several audience questions, Esposito was asked about his rumored role in Marvel’s X-Men reboot, which is expected to arrive sometime in Phase 6 or 7.

“So, I have not worked for Marvel yet,” The Mandalorian star told the crowd. “I’ve been in a room with them and talked with them, and to answer your question, I think what they do is on the lines of that mythological journey that Joe Campbell talked about, who happened to be a friend of George Lucas that George Lucas put into his stories. They do the same thing.”

Esposito proceeded to name-drop some of the comic book characters he could possible portray.

“So, there’s been talk of Magneto, there’s been talk of Dr. Freeze, there has been talk of—who else are they talking about over there?” he said. “Oh, Doom! And there is … Professor X.”

The actor was then asked to name the character he most wanted to play.

“Pick one?” he responded. “I’m going to go for something that is a little bit different. I’m gonna go and put it out in the universe that it is Professor X.”

Ahead of Comic Con San Diego, rumors began swirling that Esposito was in talks to play Professor X in the new X-Men chapter. Since then, fans—including Kevin Durant—have taken to social media to co-sign the potential casting.

Patrick Stewart has played Professor X/Charles Xavier for more than two decades. He most recently reprised the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.