X-Men '97: Marvel Addresses Professor X Recasting

X-Men '97 recasts Professor X and Marvel Studios gave us a reason why. ComicBook.com's Phase Zero talked to Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming for the company, and he addressed the change. Cedric Smith was the man who voiced Charles Xavier in X-Men: The Animated Series. However, in X-Men '97, Ross Marquand is listed as Professor X's voice actor. Winderbaum was treated to a hysterical coincidence when our host joked about The Red Skull taking over Xavier's mind in the comics. (As an added bonus, Cedric Smith also voiced the Captain America villain once upon a time!) While this isn't leading into any MCU crossover madness, they're happy to have Marquand along for the ride.

"I think it has more to do with the fact that Ross [Marquand] is one of the most talented voice artists working," the executive laughed. "And, we're lucky to have him. I mean, we were able to get so many of the OG cast back and unfortunately, we had to recast Xavier. Ross does a great Xavier."

X-Men '97 And The MCU

A lot of fans wondered if X-Men '97 would be a gateway to allow he MCU to have these iconic versions of the character. We now see from Deadpool & Wolverine that is a bit unlikely. Despite that, keeping these two timelines separate was viewed as something of an advantage for the team. Winderbaum told us that there was freedom in that decision.

"Well, actually, it was kind of liberating to be able to stay in the 90s," Winderbaum told us. "It allowed us to go places that we could just do what we want. To be so iterative. Things that we couldn't do if we were more MCU adjacent like What If…? is. I mean, What If…? Is like we're literally remixing the MCU. So, it's harder to introduce characters. Because you want to see them in live-action. Although, we do see Bill Foster as Giant Man in the second season. That's new!"

Winderbaum shared, "Actually, in the third season, spoiler alert, we do start to push at that boundary a little bit more. There's more fun to be had with the Multiverse and who can kind of come in."

Professor X Returns To The MCU?

Over in live-action, fans are waiting to see if Professor X would turn up in Deadpool & Wolverine. Patrick Stewart has already played the character in the MCU during Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Could another variant of the X-Men hero pop-up in the third Deadpool movie? Stewart told The Happy, Sad, Confused podcast that there have been some conversations.

"I have every confidence he's still around," Stewart replied when all those deaths came up. "It has come up, there's been a process," he added when asked about coming over to Deadpool & Wolverine. "But the last two-three years have been so difficult with the labor problems and the health problems, COVID, you know..." 

Are you looking forward to X-Men '97? Let us know down in the comments!