Giancarlo Esposito Says "It'd Be an Honor" to Join the MCU
Esposito would consider taking a run at either Charles Xavier or Magneto if the opportunity arose.
Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito is one of the actors most frequently cited in fan-casting for roles like Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Doctor Doom. The star has been answering questions about these roles for a while, and in a recent video for GQ UK, he told fans on YouTube that he would consider it an honor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe...all while being slightly less charitable to a suggestion he play DC's Ray Palmer. Esposito, who first broke out in politically-charged movies like Do the Right Thing and Bob Roberts, has since become known for two essential kinds of roles: very distinguished gentlemen, and brutal villains.
He has a little of each on his mind when it comes to Marvel, suggesting that he would be up for either the role of Charles Xavier or that of Magneto in the MCU's upcoming X-Men universe of films. To Esposito, each has a little different appeal.
"Who's Ray Palmer?" Esposito started, before continuing, "[Professor] X is a little more intellectual and he has a physical handicap. I know we've seen him in some incarnations prior to the wheelchair, and he kind of goes mad and does all that. So that's very interesting to me. I like the idea of playing someone who's on the right side of the law and might be able to do good...but there's also Magneto. There's a movement and action feeling about him that draws me to it. I would be really, really, really happy to join the Marvel universe in some shape or form; it would be an honor."
You can see the full video below.
Esposito previously expressed an interest in playing a version of Xavier who is not yet in his wheelchair -- something that Michael Fassbender got to do in X-Men: First Class. The character has also periodically used his mental powers to allow himself to get out of the chair, although that isn't really practical in most stunt and combat situations, where he would have to be focused on an opponent.
"You know, I've given it a cursory glance in my brain, and immediately I go, 'Hmm, it'd be great to play Professor X in some other incarnation than just the wheelchair.' Right? Because the physical idea of being in a wheelchair every single day does not appeal to me," Esposito recently told the Fade to Black podcast. "I just don't feel that old and I don't like to sit that much. But certainly we could figure something out, maybe. Professor X wasn't always in the wheelchair, but that is part of his character development. So I think about it a little bit, but I don't give it all of my thought because it would have to come to me."
After years typecast as a villain Esposito has said before -- including during a recent Tonight Show interview -- that he has interest in taking on a heroic role in the MCU.