Dark Phoenix (Laurence Belcher portraying him as a child in the former film), and Harry Lloyd recurs as a younger Xavier in Legion. The former two actors both play him at different time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. It is implied that Xavier is one of the most powerful mutants in the world. Stewart reprises his role as Xavier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022); depicted as an alternate version from the X-Men films, Xavier is the leader of the Illuminati of Earth-838, and redesigned to match Cedric Smith's Professor X from X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997), depicted with the character's iconic green suit and yellow hover-chair. Additionally, Stewart has voiced Xavier in the video games X2: Wolverine's Revenge and X-Men: The Official Game, which tie into the film series. Although Xavier is American-born in the comics and in animation, he speaks with an English accent in the films. First Class establishes that he lived in the United States during childhood, though his mother speaks with an English accent, indicating he may have developed his accent because of her. Stewart's and McAvoy's performances as Xavier have received a universally positive critical reception, winning a Saturn Award. Stewart had previously held the Guinness World Record for "longest career as a live-action Marvel character" alongside co-star Hugh Jackman for their respective portrayals of Charles Xavier / Professor X and James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the X-Men films, before being surpassed by Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, who both reprised their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and Norman Osborn / Green Goblin in the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Stewart alone however retook the title following his reprisal in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Character creation The comic book character, Professor X, was first created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby. Professor X first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963). Stan Lee had stated that the physical inspiration for Professor Xavier was from Academy Award-winning actor Yul Brynner. Professor Xavier's character development was also inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., as a contrast to the views of his longtime antagonist and friend, Erik Lensherr, whose approach is considered more comparable to that of Malcolm X. Casting Rather than auditioning other actors, X-Men director Bryan Singer actively pursued Patrick Stewart for the role of Charles