See The Mandalorian's Giancarlo Esposito as Professor X in new Marvel fan art
The Mandalorian star has been reimagined as the iconic X-Men character.
It's easy to visualise The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito with his natural air of authority in a range of substantial roles and now a fan has imagined him in the wheelchair of Professor X from the X-Men series.
The chair is likely to be vacant following Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox in 2019 and with it its impressive stable of franchises, including X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
The telepathic character of Charles Xavier has famously been played by Patrick Stewart since X-Men was rebooted for the big screen (and big box office) in 2000. Stewart went onto play Professor X seven times with his last performance in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, while James McAvoy has played him four times, most recently in 2019's poorly received X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
But the talented Apexform has created an image of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star Esposito as Professor X and it's so good it looks like a publicity still.
What's more, according to Screenrant, Esposito has made no secret of his desire to join the Marvel universe.
He said: "I think the Marvel world would likely be the next step."
X-Men and Fantastic Four will allow Disney to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed the iconic roles will be recast when the movie franchises go into production. But don't expect that to happen any time soon. Feige has made it clear the ubiquitous X-Men movies need a spell on the sidelines.
Esposito, meanwhile, has his day job to concentrate on. Star Wars live-action series, The Mandalorian, in which he plays Moff Gideon, returns for season two to Disney+ in October, with the mystery of his identity a key talking point when he appeared in series one complete with the Darksaber
The true identity of villainous Moff Gideon has been one of the main talking points amongst Star Wars fans ever since he appeared towards the end of The Mandalorian’s first series, with the character in possession of the supremely powerful and symbolic Darksaber.
Moff Gideon will be after Mando and The Child when The Mandalorian resumes. They will hope his grip on the Darksaber is loose.
The Mandalorian season 2 arrived on Disney+ in October 2020. You can subscribe to Disney Plus for £59.99 a year (or £5.99 a month). If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV guide.
