Professor X in other media

Animation

Live action

A television series based on David Haller, the schizophrenic son of Charles Xavier / Professor X, titled Legion premiered on February 8, 2017. The series is jointly produced by Fox Entertainment, and Marvel Television, and aired on the FX network. The series was released first establishing itself as a standalone installment, though it also has connections to the X-Men film universe. In Legion David Haller learns that he was adopted by the family that raised him and eventually deduces that his real father fought the Shadow King on the astral plane, but had to give his son for adoption to protect him from the entity. During Shadow King's interrogation of David's adopted sister regarding his real father, a glimpse of Professor Xavier's iconic chair from the X-Men is shown.

The series' writer, producer, and showrunner, Noah Hawley has stated that the show has potential to crossover into the other installments in the franchise, should the show continue. He has also stated that the series will acknowledge all of Haller's past, including the fact that he is Xavier's son, though neither McAvoy nor Stewart will appear in the first season. During an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden, Legion star Dan Stevens personally offered Stewart an invitation to appear on the show; to which Stewart replied he was "Absolutely 100%" willing to reprise the role under such circumstances.

Films

Xavier has appeared in ten live-action X-Men feature films to date: X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan. He is played by Patrick Stewart in the first four, the sixth, seventh, and the tenth films; and by James McAvoy in the prequel trilogy. Both actors play him at different time-periods in Days of Future Past. It is implied that Xavier is one of the most powerful mutants in the world. Although Xavier is American-born in the comics and in animation, he speaks with a British accent in the films (although First Class establishes that he lived in the United States during childhood, though he may have picked up the accent from his English mother).

X-Men

Xavier is first introduced in X-Men, when he sends Storm and Cyclops to rescue Wolverine and Rogue from Sabretooth. Xavier believes that the attack was caused by Magneto and that Wolverine was the intended target. He gives Wolverine and Rogue a home in the institute and promises to help Wolverine remember his past if he is also allowed forty-eight hours to discover why Magneto wants Wolverine. He is able to control both Sabretooth and Toad at the same time and speak through them, in an attempt to talk Magneto out of his plans against humans. Xavier uses Cerebro to locate Rogue when she runs away, but is poisoned when he uses it later (as Mystique had tampered with it). At the end of the film, he recovers and advises Wolverine to search Alkali Lake for answers to his past.

X2

Upon learning that the mutant Nightcrawler attacked the President of the United States, Xavier sends Storm and Jean to bring the mutant for questioning. He and Scott leave to visit Magneto (as he is suspected behind the attack), leaving Wolverine in charge of the school. In Magneto's cell, Xavier learns that Magneto was brainwashed by William Stryker and forced to tell Stryker all about the institute and Cerebro. Before he can escape, Xavier is sedated. He wakes up in Stryker's underground test facility, tied to a chair and fixed to a device that restricts his mental powers. He is left in the room with Jason Stryker, William's son and a powerful illusionist who Xavier previously taught. Now brainwashed by his father, Jason traps Xavier into various illusions, keeping him in one where Xavier is back in the institute (which is empty) and Jason is portrayed as a scared little girl. To comfort the "girl" and find his students, Xavier goes to use Cerebro. It is discovered that Xavier was captured to power a makeshift Cerebro Stryker created. When his powers are magnified by Cerebro, he can locate any mutant in the world. If he concentrates hard enough, he can kill all mutants or humans and possibly everyone in the world. Under Jason's illusion, Xavier is tricked into concentrating on all of the world's mutants, nearly killing them. He then switches to attacking all of the world's humans after Magneto- immune to the assault thanks to his helmet- confronts and threatens Jason. Nightcrawler and Storm rescue Xavier from the illusion and he has them all fly to Washington, to warn the president against the possibility of a mutant/human war.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Xavier first appears in a flashback, when he and Magneto pick up a young Jean Grey as their first student. He is given a more youthful appearance with digital technology.

In the present, Xavier expresses worry over Scott's grief over Jean's death and tells Storm that should anything happen to him, she was to replace him as head of the school. When Jean is discovered alive, Xavier sedates her and tells Wolverine that he had kept her powers in check with mental barriers since she was a child, resulting in her developing a second personality known as "The Phoenix". When Jean awakens as The Phoenix and escapes, Xavier tracks her down to her old home and tries to convince her to return. Rather than starting a fight outside her house, Xavier lets Magneto come with him. Xavier tries to calmly talk Jean into returning to the mansion, but Magneto turns the unstable Jean against the Professor. This causes Xavier to panic and speak to Jean in a less calm manner, now flatly telling her that she's a danger to everyone, including herself. He uses the fact that Jean killed Scott Summers to try to bring her back to herself, but it has the exact opposite effect he was hoping for, further angering the Phoenix instead of stunning her into realizing her evil potential. After much argument, the Phoenix manifests its great powers as she tries to keep Xavier from re-establishing the psychic blocks to imprison it again. Infuriated both by Xavier's meddling in her head and Magneto (who insinuates that Xavier wishes to restrain her and "give her the cure"), she uses her mind to first lift her house into the air and then cause Xavier to explode into ash. His death causes a great impact on the residents of the institute and it is nearly closed until Storm decides to honor Xavier's wishes and act as its head following the arrival of Warren.

In an after-credits scene, Xavier speaks to Moira McTaggert through the body of a comatose man, implying that his consciousness survived by transferring itself into the body (an action that Xavier had discussed at the beginning of the film as part of an ethics class, the question being if it would be ethically right for a mutant like himself to attempt such a transference, noting that the man in question was virtually brain-dead).

On the DVD Commentary, it is revealed that the body on Muir Island was a "P. Xavier". One of the writers noted that this is an original twin brother, written for the scene, who was born braindead (due to Professor X's amount of power). This brother can apparently walk but due to being in coma for a long time and braindead since birth, the brother is alluded to be in a restricted movement. This is an example of a comic book death; this scene was not in the script but was secretly added during filming. Additionally, there is nothing in the film to suggest that the Juggernaut is related to Xavier, other than perhaps a shared British nationality.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Professor X appears briefly at the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. After Wolverine frees a group of young mutants including a young Cyclops from William Stryker's lab, they try to escape from the facility but get lost. Cyclops suddenly hears a telepathic voice, which guides him out to safety along with the other mutants. Outside they are greeted by Professor X, who was communicating telepathically with Cyclops. The Professor then takes everyone into his helicopter, presumably to his mutant school. As in the opening of The Last Stand, Patrick Stewart was digitally de-aged to appear younger, and Professor X is able to walk and does not use a wheelchair. As an explanation, Xavier can be seen walking in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which chronologically takes place prior to the events of this film, by creating the illusion that he is standing in various scenes, when in reality the character is only present by telepathic projection.

X-Men: First Class

James McAvoy portrays the young Charles Xavier / Professor X in X-Men: First Class. He serves as one of the two protagonists of the film along with Erik Lensherr / Magneto. As a child, he befriends and adopts Raven/Mystique. He earns his doctorate after doing research on genetic mutation at Oxford, which brings him to the attention of CIA agent Moira MacTaggert. The Central Intelligence Agency provides with him access to Cerebro, which he uses to locate and recruit other mutants for the government. Around the same time he meets Erik Lensherr after saving him from drowning in a botched attempt to kill Sebastian Shaw. Charles and Erik become friends and together they locate mutants for the CIA. Once the team is assembled, Shaw and the Hellfire Club attack the CIA facility, kill all the human personnel and one of Charles's recruits, and persuade another to defect. Charles retreats with the survivors to his Westchester, New York mansion to train them as an independent team of operatives to prevent nuclear war between the US and USSR as a result of the Cuban missile crisis. They defeat the threat, but Charles is unable to convince Erik not to take his revenge on a helpless Shaw, with Magneto subsequently attempting to redirect a series of missiles back towards the ships that fired them after the governments decide to try and eliminate the mutant 'threat' despite Xavier's protests that most of the men on those ships don't even know why they're being asked to fire at the beach. In the film's final confrontation, it is revealed that MacTaggert causes Charles's paralysis when she fires upon Magneto, who deflects one of the bullets into his friend's lower spine. Following this, Xavier and Magneto part ways, Xavier informing his old friend that they do not share the same dream, and Xavier severs his ties with the United States government completely, changing the name of their team from "G-Men" to "X-Men," and turns his home into a school for mutant children. To do this, he must erase MacTaggert's memory so she cannot inform her superiors about the school's existence.

The circumstances of Xavier's paralysis caused continuity errors in the timeline of the X-Men saga, as he is seen walking in sequences taking place at least twenty years later, in a film that was released years before. As an explanation, Xavier can be seen walking in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which explains he can do such by creating the illusion that he is standing in various scenes, when in reality the character is only present by telepathic projection.

The Wolverine

Stewart appears in a cameo as Xavier in the post end credits scene for The Wolverine, where he appears along with Magneto to warn Wolverine of an upcoming crisis. Amazed, Wolverine asks how he is still alive: Charles reminds Logan that he once said long ago that he is not the only one with gifts. A photograph of Wolverine with Xavier also appears in Yashida's scrapbook.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart reprise their roles as the younger and older Charles Xavier/Professor X respectively, in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was released on May 23, 2014. In the sequences set in 1973, Xavier is seen to be older and bitter, has given up on his dream of human-mutant peaceful coexistence after the failure of his school, and leading a reclusive life as a result. Despite having been paralyzed by Magneto in X-Men: First Class, he regained his mobility from Hank McCoy's serum but at the cost of suppressing his mutation. In addition, Xavier is living under the care of McCoy, impolite to people, occasionally behaves violently, and succumbs to alcoholism as a coping mechanism for his depression at his failure.

By 2023, the Sentinels have decimated the mutant race and virtually conquered Earth, forcing the X-Men to seek a new method of combatting their threat. With Kitty Pryde having developed the ability to project an individual's consciousness back into their past selves, Xavier proposes that he be sent back into his past self in 1973 so that he can prevent Raven/Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask after he proposed the Sentinel program, believing that this death is the primary catalyst for this timeline. However, Kitty explains that the process of projecting someone into the past would be too psychologically traumatic even for Xavier to survive it, prompting Wolverine to volunteer to go back instead as his power would allow him to recover from the damage inflicted.

When Wolverine arrives to seek his help, the past Xavier is eventually inspired to strive for his goal again. As the serum suppressing his abilities begins to wear off, instead of taking his next dose, Xavier accepts Wolverine's encouragement to read his mind, allowing the young Xavier to not only see Logan's memories but also briefly communicate with his future self, Logan's projected mind acting as a psychic 'bridge' between the past and the future. The older Xavier convinces his younger self to maintain his faith that humanity can rise above its mistakes rather than judge it by when it stumbles despite the future he lives in, offering his young self advice on how to get past the fear of emotional pain that is hindering his powers by telling him that he can accept the pain of others by focusing on the hope for a better future. The older Xavier also allows his young counterpart to see his memories, which include the differences he had accomplished and the students his young self would have.

Free from his self-doubts from this encounter and aware of the peril of the impending crisis, Charles subsequently stops using the serum to regain his telepathy, determined to avert the dystopian future and save Raven from damnation. Although Magneto nearly triggers a mass slaughter when he takes control of the Sentinels during their demonstration in Washington D.C, Raven knocks him out in time, followed by Xavier appealing to Raven to not assassinate Bolivar Trask by encouraging her to avoid becoming a killer. As a result of the changed past and the knowledge Xavier has gained from both Wolverine and his future self, he is able to change outcomes in the next fifty years; all of the X-Men (including Cyclops and Jean Grey, who had previously died in X-Men: The Last Stand), are alive in the altered future timeline.

Deadpool

While Professor X doesn't appear in Deadpool, he is referenced a number of times by the titular character. At one point Piotr Rasputin / Colossus attempts to take Wade Wilson / Deadpool to the Professor, when the latter asks if it's "McAvoy or Stewart", jokingly referencing how convoluted the X-Men film universe's timelines can be. Deadpool escapes and never meets the Professor, but later in the film he decides he needs the help of the X-Men, and goes to the X-Mansion. Upon his arrival, it's implied that Xavier is away given Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are the only X-Men at the mansion. Deadpool remarks that these two are the only ones on screen as the studio couldn't afford more than the two of them.

X-Men: Apocalypse

McAvoy reprised his role as Xavier in X-Men: Apocalypse. McAvoy has stated in an interview with The Huffington Post that he will be older and will lose his hair in the film. During the film, it is stated that Xavier believes that humans and mutants have now achieved peace, prompting him to focus on building up the Institute as a more conventional school, intending to bring humans into the school as well as mutants, although Hank and Raven each make preparations for a future conflict to prepare for the worst even if Hank wants to hope. He has also started teaching the young Jean Grey, helping her develop a more gradual control of her powers without the telepathic blocks of the original timeline, and the storyline sees his first meeting with Scott Summers after Scott's powers emerge during an argument with a bully at school. When he hears that Eric has disappeared and learns of rumors of an ancient mutant, Xavier makes contact with new foe Apocalypse while using Cerebro, allowing Apocalypse to take remote control of Xavier's telepathy and use him to make the governments launch all their nuclear missiles, before teleporting to the mansion to abduct Xavier. Although Apocalypse forces Xavier to transmit a telepathic message to the human race by enhancing his powers, proclaiming Apocalypse's intentions to launch a plan of conquest against the world, Xavier uses the opportunity to transmit a private message to Jean with his location, and concludes the message by telling those with power to protect those without rather than to prepare for conquest. Apocalypse attempts to use his equipment to transfer his essence into Xavier's body, allowing him to gain full access to Xavier's telepathy, but although the energy shield of the transference burns off Xavier's hair as he tries to escape, he is finally rescued by Nightcrawler before the process can be completed. During the later conflict, Xavier uses the still-existing telepathic link between himself and Apocalypse to attack Apocalypse on the psychic plane while the other X-Men confront him in the real world, although in the end he is only a distraction until Jean can unleash her own full power. At the end of the film, Xavier is bald and wearing his usual suit as he sits outside the Danger Room, watching the new X-Men prepare for training under Raven as their new field leader.

Logan

Patrick Stewart returns to the role in Logan, with the film's plot taking place in 2029, following the ending changed timeline scenes of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Most of the X-Men were inadvertently killed by Charles in a seizure-induced psychic attack one year earlier, and the mutant population is dwindling due to a virus created by the Transigen Project. Professor X is near one hundred years old, and suffering from symptoms of Alzheimer's. Logan / Wolverine and Caliban act as Xavier's protectors and caretakers. Charles senses the presence of another mutant in Texas named Laura who has a lot in common with Logan, and the two decide to help keep her from sinister forces who are after her superpowered DNA. They drive towards North Dakota as Laura's previous caretaker informed them of a mutant safe haven being located nearby. The trio is eventually given shelter by a farming family, the Munsons, after Charles helps them round up their horses during a highway incident. That night, while Logan is away, Xavier realizes the truth about what he did to the X-Men and confesses his guilt to who he thinks is Logan, but is revealed to be X-24, a perfect clone of Logan, who fatally stabs Xavier. Logan later buries Xavier's body near a lake. Though he has expressed interest in reprising his role for the Legion television series, Patrick Stewart has confirmed that Logan will be his final cinematic performance as Charles Xavier.

Books

In the X-Men/Star Trek crossover novel Planet X, Archangel and Beverly Crusher program a copy of Professor X into the holodeck of the Enterprise-E based on Archangel's own knowledge of the professor and information the Enterprise downloaded from the Xavier Mansion's computers during their visit to the Marvel Universe. Crusher privately reflects that Professor X and Captain Picard look surprisingly similar, with the two sharing the same thoughts when they later meet. Accepting his status as a hologram of himself, Xavier assists Doctor Crusher in developing a cure for the 'transformed' – artificially-created mutants on a planet that the Enterprise is visiting – and later invites Picard to come and speak with him in the future if his personality will remain in the holodecks after the current crisis has been resolved, Picard assuring the Professor that he would be honoured to do so as he compliments Xavier's success in bringing the X-Men together given their diverse personalities and powers.

Internet parody

In the My Way parody The Juggernaut Bitch based on the X-Men Animated Series, Professor X, referred to simply as 'Charles', is a prominent character in the parody and its two sequels. He is voiced by Xavier Nazario.

Toys

Professor X has been released as a figure by ToyBiz a total of five times, once in 1993, three times with the movie release including two variants, and once in the Marvel Legends series 9. He has also been released as a part of the Marvel Super Hero Squad line of miniature figures produced by Hasbro.

Video games

Professor X appears in most of the X-Men video games.