Patrick Stewart's Professor X could return in Marvel's Doctor Strange 2 trailer from Super Bowl LVI dropped significant spoilers about the film. In the trailer, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) fights across dimensions alongside America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) seems to be up to no good with her Multiverse shenanigans, and Stephen Strange goes on trial before a mysterious council. In the trailer, a "Mystery Voice" that apparently belongs to Patrick Stewart's Professor X says, "We should tell him the truth."
Professor X's cameo in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer brings the X-Men crossover with Evan Peters' Quicksilver, but the twist was just a trick in the end. Peters' character was a brainwashed civilian without superpowers. However, with the inclusion of Stewart's Professor X, past X-Men characters, including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine or Halle Berry's Storm, could show up in future MCU projects.
Though Professor X's appearance in the MCU is exciting for viewers, it may not last. Patrick Stewart is currently promoting Star Trek: Picard, so the actor has answered several questions about his voice cameo, and the character's future doesn't look good. In an interview (via Doctor Strange 2 appearance, he said, "All I can say to you is we’ll have to see." He added, "But bear in mind that Professor Xavier has already died twice. I think he must have some sort of Superman quality.” While speaking to the increasing culture in comic book movies of superheroes and villains returning from the dead, the comments don't bode well for Professor X's MCU longevity.
Even before Doctor Strange 2 hits theaters, it seems the MCU is already killing off Patrick Stewart's Professor X. If Marvel does kill Professor X, the move makes sense. Patrick Stewart's character was a staple in Fox's X-Men franchise, but Marvel will want to put its own twist on the characters in the MCU. So by bringing Stewart back to kill his character, Marvel gives X-Men fans a taste of nostalgia while also clearing the way for its own new version of Charles Xavier.
Of course, no one's really dead in the MCU. Even before the Multiverse, the MCU constantly backtracked on character deaths. For instance, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) seemingly died multiple times in the MCU, but he always returns. With the release of the Multiverse, the MCU now has endless opportunities to bring characters back, no matter how many times they die. And as Patrick Stewart already said, he's died multiple times in Fox's X-Men franchise, even meeting his end at the clawed hands of a Wolverine clone in 2017's Logan. But he always comes back. So even if Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kills off Patrick Stewart's Professor X, he never stays dead for long.
