Patrick Stewart’s appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was far from his favorite.

“It was alone,” Stewart, 83, said during the Wednesday, January 4, episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast of his cameo as Professor X in the film. “I think the big scene, each one of the leading actors had the same experience. They were shot on their own. It was frustrating and disappointing but that’s how it has been. The last few years have been challenging.”

Stewart appeared as his X-Men character for a surprise cameo in the 2022 sequel. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange appeals to the Illuminati, which consists of Charles Xavier, Mr. Fantastic (John Krasinski), Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch) and Captain Britain (Hayley Atwell), for assistance until the grief-stricken Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) kills them all one by one. 

The Marvel film, directed by Sam Raimi, took a darker approach to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it follows Steven Strange and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) as they attempt to save the multiverse. The superhero flick marked the first time a member of the X-Men series was featured in the MCU thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, setting the stage for mutants to make an introduction in the future.

Now, Stewart may be gearing up to bring Xavier back into the Marvel franchise for a second time with Deadpool 3, which is set to premiere in July as the only MCU movie hitting theaters this year. The Star Trek actor told host Josh Horowitz on Wednesday that there may be some footing behind the rumors of a potential cameo. 

“It has come up,” Stewart said, noting that the logistics have been a “process” due to various contributing obstacles. “The last two or three years have been so difficult with the labor problems and the health problems and Covid,” he explained. 

Stewart wouldn’t be the only familiar face from past X-Men films showing up in Deadpool’s third installment. Ryan Reynolds, who stars as the title character and serves as producer, announced in September 2022 that longtime pal Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine, despite the actor previously claiming he’d retired his claws for good after 2017’s Logan.  

“It’s not like adding Hugh Jackman to a movie like this is a hard sell. It’s an immediate and emphatic, unqualified yes,” Reynolds told Collider in November 2022. “It’s a lot of moving parts and Fox and X-Men and all that kind of stuff that Marvel needs to sort through. A lot of red tape in order to make that happen. And they did it.”

While Wolverine technically met his fate at the end of Logan, Reynolds, 47, previously revealed that Deadpool plans to bring the character back without disrespecting the stories that came before. 

“We’ve figured out a way to do it that’s Hugh Jackman-approved and Kevin Feige-approved where we’re completely protecting the legacy of Logan the way it was left off,” Reynolds said during a November 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I wouldn’t mess with that. I’m really excited.”

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Bringing back deceased characters in the superhero world isn’t uncommon. Stewart himself has died as Professor X a total of four times throughout his eight appearances over the years — a topic brought up during his conversation on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.

“I don’t know [what that implies],” he joked of his high death stats. “But I do now have every confidence that he’s still around.”

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