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Patrick Stewart confirms retirement from X-Men series

Patrick Stewart bows out as Charles Xavier (credit: 20th Century Fox)
Patrick Stewart bows out as Charles Xavier (credit: 20th Century Fox)

This isn’t too great a surprise, but for X-Men fans it’s a poignant moment nonetheless.

Whilst it had long been declared that the upcoming ‘Logan’ would be Hugh Jackman’s final appearance in the X-Men movie universe, there was more of a question mark over whether or not it would also mark the end of the road for Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier – but now, the 76-year old British acting legend has confirmed that ‘Logan’ will also be his X-Men swansong.

Judging by how Stewart phrases it to Entertainment Weekly, he had not 100% made up his mind on the matter until attending a recent screening of the film alongside Jackman, which proved to be a somewhat emotional moment:

“A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, the three of us [Stewart, Jackman and director James Mangold] sat, watching the movie. And I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it.

Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart in 'Logan' (credit: 20th Century Fox)
Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart in ‘Logan’ (credit: 20th Century Fox)

“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.

“Then, the movie ended… and we were going to be taken up on stage, but not until the credits were over. So, we had some time to sit there and, as I sat there 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.’”

Stewart, Jackman, James Marsden and Halle Berry in 2000's original 'X-Men' (credit: 20th Century Fox)
Stewart, Jackman, James Marsden and Halle Berry in 2000’s original ‘X-Men’ (credit: 20th Century Fox)

Stewart and Jackman first worked together on 2000’s original ‘X-Men,’ and went on to co-star in 2003’s ‘X2,’ 2005’s ‘X-Men: The Stand’ and 2014’s ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ in which he shared a scene with the younger Xavier, played by James McAvoy. Stewart also had a brief, mid-credits cameo alongside Jackman and Ian McKellen’s Magneto in 2013’s ‘The Wolverine,’ which set the scene for ‘Days of Future Past.’

Something tells us you might want to take a hankie to ‘Logan,’ which opens in UK cinemas on 1 March.

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