Summary

Bryan Cranston is a perfect fit for Professor X due to his range, talent, and endorsements from fans and other actors.
Cranston’s experience playing complex characters shows he can bring depth and maturity to the role of Charles Xavier.
Physically, Cranston is a match for Professor X with his past roles like Walter White and Phillip Lacasse.

As a powerful psychic in the X-Men universe, Professor X is one of the most fascinating characters Marvel has ever created. He has layers and nuances for days that make him resonate. He’s also the founder of the X-Men, and a flawed but brilliant character who has a heart of gold but is sometimes too arrogant to see his own wrongs. If all that isn’t enough, he’s powerful enough to kill everyone in the world if he concentrates hard enough.

For X-Men fans everywhere who have grown up revering the character, we have been privileged enough to see the character throughout decades of appearances across a massive franchise of films and tv series — most of which have been amazing. Better yet, we’ve also been lucky enough to have the character played by two different live-action actors who were both unbelievable in the role.

For many, Patrick Stewart was the only choice for it and grew to personify Charles Xavier perfectly. However, when the opportunity for a younger version of the character came around, we were just as lucky to have the mantle taken up by James McAvoy, whose own amazing portrayal brought other nuances to the character’s earlier days when he was becoming the mutant leader fans originally knew from the comics.

Now that the X-Men are finally set to have their proper introduction to the MCU, attention must turn to who will take over the coveted role of Professor X (Patrick Stewart’s variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness aside). With many notable names being thrown around, for many fans, there’s only one actor with enough range and ability to become the ultimate replacement as the MCU’s Professor Charles Xavier: Bryan Cranston.

Bryan Cranston Is the One Actor Who Can Replace Them Both

Patrick Stewart was so superb as to become practically synonymous with the character, but James McAvoy brought his own charm to the role through multiple films. That only makes it doubly harder to imagine anyone capable of following so immaculate a double act. However, amid all the swirling rumors and much fan casting, one name has been standing out more than others.

While Giancarlo Esposito’s constant links to the role have been growing louder as well, there’s actually another actor who is arguably a much better fit for the role — one who actually knows Esposito very well. That actor is Bryan Cranston. For a moment in time, Esposito and Cranston were, of course, electric on-screen together as they shared some of the most amazing thriller chess scenes in tv history during their time together on Breaking Bad.

No one who knows Esposito from that legendary show will ever argue that he isn’t a fantastic actor or wouldn’t do a terrific job if cast as Charles Xavier. However, in the same breath, there isn’t any fan of Breaking Bad who would argue that anyone even came close to outshining Bryan Cranston’s portrayal as the iconic Walter White in the show.

The gravitas of Cranston’s acting ability in that life-changing role alone is enough to prove why he would likely nail the role of Professor X and bring all new layers of depth to the character. However, there are even more reasons why Cranston would be an outstanding choice for the role beyond this.

Cranston’s Experience Playing Complex Characters

Walter White was without a doubt the most sophisticated character Bryan Cranston has played to date. However, it was far from his only complex character. Cranston’s other roles, like his Oscar-nominated performance as ’40s Hollywood screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, have proven again and again what a rare talent he is (his acclaimed portrayal of the unhinged news anchor, Howard Beale, in the Broadway adaptation of Network won him a Tony Award for Best Actor).

In that sense, there’s no telling what nuances he may be capable of bringing to Professor X. As a father figure, he was rich in depth with the good-natured and lovable quirks he brought to the character of Hal in Malcolm in the Middle. Meanwhile, his age and wisdom as an actor are all geared toward the exorbitant levels of maturity that would be ideal, since Professor X is often portrayed as a philosophical and very measured person.

Cranston’s Physical Compatibility Is Undeniable

As far as being a physical match for Professor X, we’ve already seen how well Cranston pulls off the bald look, since he spent a large portion of Breaking Bad cutting a quietly menacing figure as a man who lost his hair too. We’ve also been given some great memories of him playing a guy in a wheelchair after seeing him as the quadriplegic, Phillip Lacasse, in The Upside.

Movies like these also give us a great indication of how much chemistry Cranston has with all other actors he performs with. Whether he’s beside a comedic star, a younger actor, or imposing figures, Cranston can always hold his own and commands the screen no matter who he shares it with. As such, he has grown to become highly respected among his fans and peers alike, so much so that he’s even earned the endorsement of other great actors.

Fan Approval and One Very Special Endorsement
One huge perk in Bryan Cranston’s favor as a leading contender to play Charles Xavier if he ever wanted to is the fact that he already has the approval of X-Men fans. With many already fan-casting him in the role, between his star power, reputation, and their approval, it’s already a match made in comic-book heaven — although he’s also been linked with other famous comic characters too.

All else aside, one of the most crucial arguments for Cranston being a superb choice to play Professor Charles Xavier comes from another legendary actor. The fact that millions of people revere Sir Anthony Hopkins as the greatest living actor today makes the fact that he once wrote a fan letter to Bryan Cranston all the more remarkable. It came after Hopkins had completed watching Breaking Bad and felt compelled to express himself to Cranston. Here’s an extract from that letter:

“That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence. You and all the cast are the best actors I’ve ever seen. That may sound like a good lung full of smoke blowing. But it is not. It’s almost midnight out here in Malibu, and I felt compelled to write this email. Congratulations and my deepest respect. You are truly a great, great actor.”

If that isn’t the endorsement of a lifetime, we don’t know what is. Coming from an actor as esteemed as Hopkins may have starstruck Cranston but, to the rest of us, it was yet another signal to stand up and take notice of what a once-in-a-lifetime talent he truly was.

At this stage, we still don’t really know who will be cast as the next Professor X, or any of the other major X-Men characters in the MCU. What is undeniable, though, is that the franchise would be lucky to have Bryan Cranston as Xavier.