After Giancarlo Esposito Confirms MCU Negotiations, Fans Debate Who He’ll Play: Professor X or Magneto

Since Disney acquired Fox and gained the rights to the X-Men, rumors have been flying about Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Mandalorian favorite Giancarlo Esposito playing Professor X or Magneto.

While the resurrected mutants are still a long way from returning to our screens in full, the ball has started rolling following Marvel’s big reveal at the end of Ms. Marvel. Now that it’s been established in MCU canon that the X-gene exists, it’ll be only a matter of time until some major players begin to make their presences known.

While speculation has swirled about whether or not he’d be Professor X or Magneto, the actor himself has fanned the flames by telling a recent convention appearance that he’s spoken with Marvel Studios about a role in the franchise, and that he chose the X-Men leader as his preferred candidate.

“So, I have not worked for Marvel yet. I’ve been in a room with them and talked with them, and to answer your question, I think what they do is on the lines of that mythological journey that Joe Campbell talked about, who happened to be a friend of George Lucas that George Lucas put into his stories. They do the same thing. So, there’s been talk of Magneto, there’s been talk of Dr. Freeze, there has been talk of, who else are they talking about over there? Oh, Doom! And there is Professor X. Pick one? I’m going to go for something that is a little bit different. I’m going to go and put it out in the universe that it is Professor X.”

Naturally, that was all it took for the debate to begin over whether or not he’d be a superior good or bad patriarch of the X-Men lore.

I actually want to see Giancarlo Esposito as Professor X a lot more than Magneto.

He’s a really talented performer and it would be nice to see him take on a different kind of role instead of another villain. https://t.co/3nS5e4h3nT

— Kaden Alexander (@KallixVA) August 7, 2022

I would LOVE Giancarlo Esposito as Magneto rather than Professor X. Magneto is my favourite Marvel villain of all time and he needs to be done right in the MCU. Also Esposito always plays a great villain. Pair him up with whoever plays Xavier and you know it’s gonna be peak! pic.twitter.com/8GSawLZVAH

— Sam Jones (@TheCBMAuthority) August 7, 2022

Yeah, Giancarlo Esposito would make a perfect Magneto or Professor X 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9fJ55D9ugq

— ReedReads ☀️ (@ReedReads4) August 7, 2022

Professor X is fine by me. Let him do that. He’d be a perfect Charles Xavier & not playing Magneto or Doom gives him a chance to NOT be a villain lmao. https://t.co/PDuiM8h1zY

— Kane J. Webb (@FightOnTwist) August 6, 2022

If Giancarlo Esposito wants to play Professor X, you let him play Professor X. If Giancarlo Esposito wants to play anything, you let him. https://t.co/Q9nDbGp5zf

— Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) August 7, 2022

when we get that official giancarlo esposito as professor x confirmation announcement at D23 >>> pic.twitter.com/E8on7w0YzX

— mark bcs spoilers (@t4tpilled) August 6, 2022

Giancarlo Esposito as the MCU’s Professor X will no doubt be the hardest casting choice in capeshit. pic.twitter.com/Q5Gu4kDFzj

— Giancarlo Osborn (@ZeroYear97) August 6, 2022

Given Esposito’s remark about “Dr. Freeze,” which suggests he isn’t entirely up on his comic books, and his claim that he has spoken with the top brass at Marvel, confirming a meeting is an intriguing twist. Mutants will appear sooner rather than later; we’ll simply have to wait and see where he falls on the line.