Patrick Stewart Is On 'Standby' To Appear Alongside Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman In Deadpool 3

Although we've seen Charles Xavier die in "X-Men: The Last Stand," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "Logan," and most recently in "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," that never seems to stop Patrick Stewart from returning to the character. Thanks to time travel, time jumps, and the introduction of the multiverse, it wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world for him to pop up in all sorts of future Marvel Cinematic Universe films. If Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) can come back after "Logan" seemingly killed him off for good, so can Professor X. 

The most obvious film to include him in would be the upcoming "Deadpool 3," although there's no official word yet confirming whether Stewart will make an appearance. But when Stewart was asked in a recent interview with ComicBook.com, the answer seemed cautiously encouraging. "I've been told to stand by," he said. "That's all. And I know nothing more than that, I promise you."

This may not sound like much, but if the build-up to "Spider-Man: No Way Home" has taught us anything, it's that nothing but a clear-cut denial from an actor — and sometimes not even that — is proof that they won't be in it. Spider-Man fans spent months listening to Andrew Garfield insist that he was not in "No Way Home," and we all know how that turned out. Nothing's certain, of course, but given the "Deadpool" films' inherently meta nature and Marvel's love of cameos, a Professor X appearance seems more likely than not. 

If you're worried about Xavier's reappearance undermining his death in "Logan," have no fear: this movie takes place significantly before the events of that film, which is part of why Hugh Jackman agreed to the project in the first place. If any part of "Deadpool 3" undid the events of James Mangold's masterpiece "Logan," neither Jackman nor Stewart would likely be interested. "I did tell him it takes place before our movie," Jackman said, explaining how he'd gotten Mangold's blessing ahead of time, "so I wasn't going to screw it up with my claws coming out of the grave. He was relieved by that."

There's also no need to think this will undermine Xavier's appearance in "Multiverse of Madness," as that was a version of him from a different universe than the X-Men films we've known and loved. It also wouldn't undermine the character's deaths in "The Last Stand" or "Days of Future Past," because both of those deaths have already been undone by the movies themselves. 

While we hope "Deadpool 3" is a satisfying movie that stands on its own, it may also serve as our first clear indicator of how the MCU will integrate mutants into its universe. (Well, technically "Multiverse of Madness" was the first indicator, but if anything that film just made things more confusing.) Will the MCU start completely fresh or will they try to bring back legacy X-Men characters for the long-term? Hopefully the upcoming Deadpool/Wolverine buddy-comedy film will let us know.