“He’ll Nail It”: Our X-Men Report Reveals Which Actors Fans Want for the MCU’s Professor X
The X-Men movie is coming soon, and Marvel is working on the casting for the next-generation MCU version of the team. There have been a ton of rumors about who the actors in line for these roles are, and it opens the door for what this version of the mutant team will look like. With the exception of the prequel Fox movies, which had Professor Charles Xavier as a young man who formed the team, the new MCU version seems like it is looking more at the idea of an older Professor X with a young X-Men team whose members are all in their early 20s.
It also looks like Marvel is possibly down to the final two rumored actors for Professor X, and we asked fans who they picked from the two for this role. From the sound of it, many fans like one over the other, saying that Bill Skarsgard would “nail it” if cast for the role.
Who Should Play Professor X in the MCU?
The two names that seem to be on the final list of rumored actors are Bill Skarsgard and Christopher Abbott. Abbott is a 40-year-old actor who has earned nominations from the Tony Awards (Death of a Salesman), Independent Spirit Awards (James White), and Golden Globes (Catch-22). He also has some big titles on his resume, including Wolfman, A Most Violent Year, Possessor, Poor Things, Kraven the Hunter, It Comes at Night, and the TV show The Sinner. He has the experience, is at the right age compared to the X-Men’s rumored options, and is a quality actor, but fans seem more interested in the other option – Bill Skarsgard.
Comic book artist Rob Liefeld said that he is hearing that Skarsgard is signing on as Professor X, and he expects to hear something by D23. One fan responded to Liefeld on X by writing, “I love Bill Skarsgard, he probably will nail it.”
Skarsgard, 35, has much bigger movies in his resume, although not all of them have been big successes. He will likely be best known for his role as Pennywise in IT, IT CHAPTER TWO, and the TV spinoff It: Welcome to Derry. He also played Count Orlock in the Robert Eggers 2024 remake of Nosferatu, and took on the title role in the 2024 remake of The Crow, a movie that was a critical flop. He also played Kro in Marvel’s Eternals and Zeitgeist in Deadpool 2.
These former roles that show his range have many fans believing he would be perfect for the role, with another X user writing, “Bill does it for me. I feel he’d portray Charles the most.”
In fact, it is a runaway poll, with Skarsgard leading our fan voting at over 76% of the votes. Whether that is because he is the more famous name, or because of his past roles as Pennywise and others, there are still fans who think there are better choices. At least one X fan wrote that the two actors look too young for the role, even though James McAvoy was closer in age to his X-Men on those movies. Patrick Stewart was 60 when he started the role, but the MCU seems to want to go young enough to keep the cast around for several years, including Professor X.
