Patrick Stewart dies at 86: why Professor X shaped Marvel

While we were counting down to Avengers: Doomsday, the news reached me and I had to share it with Zach: we had just learned that Sir Patrick Stewart had died at the age of 86. I was shocked and devastated. We had been excited to see him return in Avengers: Doomsday and had hoped to see more of him at the film's press conference.

What followed was a tribute to an actor I called a legend of entertainment. The conversation moved from Jean Luc Picard to Professor Charles Xavier, and from his stage work with Ian McKellen to a darker role in Green Room.

Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier defined the character

His run from Jean Luc Picard to Professor Charles Xavier came up first. In the role of Xavier, he embodied elegance, composure, wisdom and dignity, and that version of the character became fixed in our minds. Every time he appeared in a film as Professor Charles Xavier, he took complete control of the scene.

He played the character so well that we grieved for him each time. The character died many times on screen, but those deaths were never treated as a joke. That shows how skilled he was as an actor and how strong his performance was. Logan in 2017 was an exceptional performance, and his return in Avengers: Doomsday confirms how much he matters to all of us.

Why Patrick Stewart mattered to Marvel on the big screen

The Marvel Cinematic Universe would not have existed without him, and I truly believe that. In X-Men in 2000, he was the biggest star in the cast. Hugh Jackman and James Marsden were not as famous as Jean Luc Picard at that point.

He gave Marvel a prestige in cinema that had not existed before. Yes, Blade was amazing, but casting Jean Luc Picard as Professor X was a major event in every sense of the word. I'm truly stunned.

His Avengers: Doomsday scenes will land differently now

In the discussion, the point was made that his scenes in Avengers: Doomsday will be very moving. They probably would have been great anyway, because he gives a good performance most of the time. But now they will have a different impact, especially if his character does not survive the events of Doomsday. The double meaning there was noted.

It is not certain whether Avengers: Doomsday is his last recorded performance. It was suggested that, in the long history of great actors and their final roles, his last one was supposed to be an unusual voice part in an animated film about detective sheep. That film had not been seen yet, though it was described as excellent by reputation, and his voice in it was called great. Still, it seems Avengers: Doomsday will be his last screen appearance, unless there is a project we did not know about.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, from Shakespeare to Waiting for Godot

No tribute to him could skip his professional and personal relationship with Ian McKellen. Both were classically trained actors with deep experience in Shakespeare. They played roles for decades in film and television, especially in genre films, and both are deeply loved.

They were also described as wonderful people off screen. They gave great interviews and were always playful with fans. Their stage work together in Waiting for Godot came up, along with the media coverage they did around it and the sheer number of his public appearances.

From Star Trek: The Next Generation to David Lynch's Dune

The personal connection to Jean Luc Picard began with Star Trek: The Next Generation, a show that had a big influence growing up. He was also the original Gurney Halleck in David Lynch's Dune, a film described as very influential.

He was in his eighties, and he and Ian McKellen were late in life. Even so, he was one of those people you assumed would be around forever. That is what made the news so sad.

Green Room showed Patrick Stewart's darker range

Every role he played carried a kind of timeless wisdom, along with a touch of fun and joy. But he could also go deep into darker characters. Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room was raised as a great example, and as a film some people may not have seen yet.

In it, he plays the villain, a vile white supremacist. It was called a stunning performance, completely different from most of the roles we know him for. He was also described as a very talented comedic actor who was not given much room to show that side of himself in film.

Losing a giant of the screen

We lost a giant, and it hurts. He seems to have lived a long and fruitful life, but it is still deeply sad. To be loved and to live as full a life as Patrick Stewart did was described as fortunate.

It was hard to keep talking about anything else after the news, and it felt strange to speak about him in the past tense. We will talk more about him and celebrate the life of Patrick Stewart.