Last year, while talking about the upcoming Logan, Patrick Stewart hinted that the James Mangold superhero drama would "probably" be the last time we saw him in the role of the mighty Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X. Considering that this would also count as Hugh Jackman's bow out of the X-Men universe, that seemed like a natural choice but given that these movies operate largely with zero reason, many suggested that he would have the chance to come back whenever he wanted if he changed his mind. Well, during a recent SiriusXFM Town Hall with Jackman and Mangold, Stewart confirmed that Logan would indeed be his last outing in the role and he seemed pretty confident and concrete in his comments.

Here's what Stewart said during the SiriusXFM Town Hall:

A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, the three of us sat, watching the movie … And I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it. Maybe it was the company of these two guys, but the movie ended and — this is an admission — but at one point [Hugh] reached out, and he took my hand in those last few minutes, and I saw him go [mimes wiping a tear from his eye] like this, and then I realized I had just done the same thing … I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told [Hugh] that same evening, ‘I’m done too. It’s all over.’

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Image via A24

It's been my feeling for a long time that these movies go on for way too long and often keep great actors, like Stewart and even Jackman, away from more challenging roles. Stewart, of course, has had little issue keeping up with his distinct peccadilloes as an actor over the years, both on stage and in film. Just last year, he essentially stole the entirety of the otherwise insipid Green Room and his work on Blunt Talk nearly - note: nearly - made the show worth watching. As Xavier, he was measured, regal, and radiated a feeling of intellect and reason beyond the reach of all morals and most mutants. It's a role that he's great in and always has been but it doesn't allow him to stretch out his range at all, something that I hope he gets to do more in the following years. 

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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox