Deadpool & Wolverine has featured several cameos of major X-Men characters and villains from the Fox-Marvel universe. In addition to Gambit (Channing Tatum) and X23 (Dafne Keen), Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), Pyro (Aaron Stanford), and Toad (Ray Park), among others also appear. However, there’s one major mutant missing: Professor X. Amid the rumors that Charles Xavier would be part of the third Deadpool movie and one reputable publication confirming the claims were true, he wasn’t seen in the threequel. As many may have been puzzled, director Shawn Levy reveals why Professor X didn’t show up.
On the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Levy talked about the rumored cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine that never happened. One of them was Professor X, and despite the claims, alleged confirmation, and theories of his possible appearance, there was never a moment when he was part of the movie.
“Never even discussed,” he said.
The filmmaker added that the only thing that happened was Emma Corrin studied his character, given that her villainous role as Cassandra Nova happened to be Professor X’s twin sister. So, though the siblinghood became a big interest on set, his cameo was not even considered.
“No, never discussed. Never considered,” Levy continued.
Other cameo rumors that Levy mentioned didn’t happen were Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, James Marsden’s Cyclops, Halle Berry’s Storm, and Anna Paquin’s Rogue. After reading all the claims online, he found it a “delightful smokescreen for the truth.”
Emma Corrin Reveals How Professor X Motivates Cassandra Nova to be a Villain in Deadpool & Wolverine
Talking about Corrin, who uses they/them pronouns, studying Professor X’s connection to her role as Cassandra, they revealed that the X-Men leader motivated the villain to be the way she was. In an interview with GamesRadar+ and Inside Total Film, the 28-year-old star admitted they found it hard to understand what drove Cassandra to do what she was doing. So, when they looked back at their character’s origin story, they learned that Cassandra's relationship with her brother and his feelings and actions toward her pushed her to be as bad as she was.
“Whether it's out of revenge, or self-hatred, or a cry for his attention; that feeling that she'll never be good enough for him or as good as him… So, the only other option is to be the worst version of herself,” she explained.
For starters, Charles killed Cassandra while still in their mother’s womb after recognizing her evil presence. But that didn’t mean she was already dead. After her stillbirth, her consciousness became telepathically linked with her brother and made her gain some of his powers that she created herself another body. Cassandra is best known for being the mastermind behind the Genosha massacre in 2001’s New X-Men #114-116.
Marvel intentionally planted fake leaks to protect the cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Professor X’s alleged appearance was probably one of them. Though it didn’t happen, the movie doesn’t lack star power and is now on its way to the $1 billion mark at the box office.
