Patrick Stewart's 7 Greatest X-Men Scenes of All Time, Ranked

Image via 20th Century Studios Published Oct 30, 2026, 5:59 PM EDT Eddie Possehl is a dynamic and driven writer/director with a passion for the written word and all things film, television, comics, and games. His passion for storytelling led him to establish his own production company in hopes of achieving his dreams. His dedication to his craft has attracted renowned talent like Yuri Lowenthal to collaborate with him on his projects. As he grows and improves, Eddie is a shining example of a self-starter. Sign in to your Collider account Sir Patrick Stewart is easily one of the most influential and important actors of the generation. He's a huge favorite among superhero fans thanks to his amazing portrayal of the one and only Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise. He's easily one of the main highlights of those films, alongside the likes of Hugh Jackman. Unfortunately, it was on October 28th, 2026 that he passed away, but left behind a legacy unlike any other. Over his 20+ years playing the character of Professor X, he's been part of some incredible scenes that are unforgettable. While there are plenty of scenes that are amazing, there are a select few that are simply the greatest in his long-running catalog. His time as Professor X includes some of his best work, and these scenes are the proof in the pudding. Sir Patrick Stewart was a generational talent that will never ever be forgotten. He will be profoundly missed. 7 Magneto vs. Professor X and the Police 'X-Men' (2000) Image via 20th Century Studios While he may be the inspiring, wise mentor of the X-Men, Professor Charles Xavier is actually one of the most powerful mutants in the universe. His telepathic abilities are profound, and it's in this X-Men scene that he really gets to show it off. When Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) and his associates are in a conflict with the police, Professor X suddenly takes control over the two baddies—unable to take control of Magneto himself because of his helmet—to try and stop him. The best stand-offs with these two former friends aren't ever in power, though, and always within their vastly contrasting ideologies. When presented with the option of saving the girl that the antagonist is after or killing him, Charles refuses to do so. This leads to the villain killing almost every police officer nearby, Charles excellently calling his bluff. This is one of the best Xavier vs. Magneto scenes in the franchise, without a doubt. It does an excellent job of showing Xavier's unwillingness to escalate conflicts if it means getting people hurt, as well. 6 Charles Xavier Meets His Future Self 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014) Image via 20th Century Studios One of the more beloved X-Men films is none other than X-Men: Days of Future Past. Blending both the past and the future, fans got two iterations of some of their favorite characters, Charles Xavier included. This led to a scene in which the new actor for Xavier, James McAvoy, got to share the screen with Stewart himself. It's in this moment that he got to deliver an amazing quote—one of the best in the series: "Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever." Getting to see Xavier talk to his past self, who is far more pessimistic, and give him the pep talk he needs is special. It feels like a passing of the torch of sorts between Stewart and McAvoy, which has even more importance and impact now more than ever. The quotes don't end there, either, as he gives one final encouragement to his younger self: "It's not their pain you're afraid of. It's yours, Charles . . . it's the greatest gift we have. To bear their pain without breaking, and it's born from the most human power: Hope. Please, Charles, we need you to hope again." 5 The Senate Hearing 'X-Men' (2000) Image via 20th Century Studios The philosophical conflicts of the X-Men series are some of the strongest parts of it, with Xavier being the physical representation of the protagonists' side of it. One of the best examples of this comes in the first X-Men movie's scene in which he makes an appearance at a Senate hearing to speak. It does a perfect job melding the comic book aspects of the franchise with the political elements that make the comic book series so impactful. There are three strong ideologies at play here. Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) represents masking prejudice and discrimination under the guise of "security", Magneto represents a radical response to oppression, and Xavier obviously represents peace. The mutant who uses a wheelchair always argues for mutants' civil rights and acts as the idealistic solution to the conflict of tyranny. What's so impactful about this scene is that while these three representations of these ideologies never actually speak to each other, they're at war with one another nonetheless. 4 "I'm looking for hope." 'X-Men' (2000) Image via 20th Century Studios It's clear that at the emotional core of the X-Men franchise lies Charles Xavier and Magneto's emotional bond and conflict—two sides of the same coin. They were once friends—best friends. However, their own beliefs in how the oppression of mutants should be handled drove them apart (which can be seen in X-Men: First Class). As can be seen in his best scenes, some of their strongest moments together come when they're simply talking. No other scene of them together, though, showcases Charles' hope for Magneto better than this one. When Xavier comes to him to talk, he makes a bold statement that tells the viewers everything they need to know about the emotions underneath this mental conflict. When the villain asks the professor what he's searching around in his mind for, the man simply professes, "I'm looking for hope." While his opposite gives him an answer he doesn't like, Charles still, no matter what, does not plan on giving up on him. That's what makes him so compelling. No matter what Magneto has done or will do, his former friend still truly believes that he can be changed and knows deep down that what his antagonist is doing, he's doing for the same goal as Xavier. They both want liberation for the mutant race, but go about it in different manners. He doesn't see Magneto as an evil man like the rest of the world—even his own X-Men—do. He sees him as Erik Lehnsherr, the man he knows is good of heart and is simply... misguided. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Character Is Your Best Friend? Steve Rogers · Tony Stark · Peter Parker · Shuri Pick where you meet, what they text you at two in the morning, what they hand you on your birthday and what the two of you keep arguing about. Four very different people are waiting on the other side: the one who never leaves, the one who is exhausting and worth it, the one who replies in four seconds flat, and the one who will roast you and then fix your life. 🛡️Steve Rogers(Captain America) 🛠️Tony Stark(Iron Man) 🕸️Peter Parker(Spider-Man) 🐆Shuri(Black Panther) FIND YOUR FRIEND → 01 Where do the two of you meet? Nobody in this universe makes a friend somewhere normal. AIn a gym at six in the morning, where the two of you are the only people awake. BAt a party you were not really invited to, where they talked to you for an hour. CQueuing for coffee in Queens while something loud happens six blocks away. DIn a lab you had no clearance for, and they decided to let you stay. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Your phone lights up at two in the morning. What does it say? You find out what kind of friend somebody is by what they send at that hour. ANothing at all, because they are already outside, having heard you had a rough week. BFour hundred words about an idea they just had, plus a schematic you cannot read. CAn apology for texting so late, followed by a question that could have waited. DA meme aimed directly at you, sent with no context and absolutely no mercy. NEXT QUESTION → 03 It is your birthday. What do they hand you? The present is never really about the present. ASomething small they made themselves, handed over slightly awkwardly. BSomething absurd and expensive that fixes a problem you mentioned once, months ago. CA gift that clearly took months of saving, wrapped badly, with a long note inside. DAn upgrade to something you already owned, installed without asking you first. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What does a good Saturday with them actually look like? Superheroes have days off, and this is how they spend them. AA long walk, an old diner and a conversation you had both been avoiding. BWhatever they decide at noon, which somehow ends with you in another country. CBad takeaway and an old film on their couch, interrupted about eleven times. DTwo hours in a workshop, arguing about whether your idea would even work. NEXT QUESTION → 05 You have your worst day in years. What do they do about it? This is the part of a friendship nobody puts in the trailer. AThey sit next to you and say almost nothing until you are ready to talk. BThey throw money, noise and three terrible plans at it until one of them helps. CThey turn up with food, refuse to leave, and then check on you every day for a month. DThey tell you the honest version of it, which nobody else was willing to say. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Every real friendship has one fight it keeps having. What is yours? The thing you argue about is usually the thing you like most about them. AThey take risks with their own life that they would never let me take with mine. BThey vanish into work for weeks and expect me to be completely fine about it. CThey keep apologising for things that were never even slightly their fault. DThey are three steps ahead of me and do not always bother explaining why. NEXT QUESTION → 07 The alarm goes off and you are both in the field. What is your job? You get one role on the team, and it says a lot about who you want next to you. AHolding the front line so that everybody behind me gets out of the building. BDoing the thing nobody has a plan for yet, at speed, and inventing the rest. CGetting people off the street quietly before anyone realises we were there. DRunning everything from a screen and talking the rest of them through it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Ten years on, what do you want this friendship to be? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who picks up the phone. AExactly the same, because some people are simply permanent and that is the appeal. BLoud and complicated and worth every bit of the trouble it caused along the way. CStill the person I look out for, and still the first one who checks on me. DTwo people who keep each other sharp and never once get sentimental about it. REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND → The Line Is Ringing Your Best Friend Is…Four people, four completely different ideas of what it means to have somebody in your corner. Here is who picked up, what they would ask of you, and what you would get back. Steve RogersYou want the friend who does not leave. Steve is the one who turns up at the door without being asked, who remembers what you said you were worried about, and who has never once made you audition for his attention. His entire character is built on a single sentence, which is that he will not abandon somebody just because it has become expensive to keep them. He is far funnier than people give him credit for, and the joke is almost always at his own expense rather than yours. The friendship comes with a cost, since being close to Steve means being dragged into fights that were never yours and being glad about it later. You would get a friend who tells you the hard thing to your face and then defends you to everybody else in the room. Tony StarkYou want the friend who is genuinely exhausting and completely worth it. Tony will forget your birthday, then build you something at four in the morning that you did not know you needed, and hand it over as though it were nothing. He is bad at saying the warm thing out loud, so he says it in hardware instead, which is why everybody around him ends up with upgraded everything. Being his friend means putting up with the disappearing, the deflecting and the jokes that arrive about ninety seconds too early. What you get in return is somebody who will spend an unreasonable amount of money and effort on a problem the moment it becomes yours. He is the loudest person in the room and the one most likely to be quietly panicking about all of you. Peter ParkerYou want the friend who replies in four seconds and apologises for it. Peter is earnest in a way that is almost unfashionable, and he will take on far more than he can carry rather than admit that he is struggling. He is the only one on this list who needs looking after as much as he looks after you, and that balance is exactly what makes it a real friendship. Nobody in the MCU is better at the small stuff, from remembering the thing you were nervous about to showing up with food you did not ask for. Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived in July 2026 and put him back where he works best, which is broke, local and carrying the weight on his own. You would get a friend who is sincerely, embarrassingly happy for you when something goes right, with no edge to it at all. ShuriYou want the friend who insults your shoes, fixes your phone and then quietly rearranges your entire life for the better. Shuri does not do soft reassurance, and that is the reason you would believe her when she says you are fine. She is the smartest person in almost any room she walks into and treats that as a reason to tease you rather than a reason to lecture you. The teasing is the affection. When Shuri stops making fun of you, something has gone seriously wrong and you should probably ask her about it. Her story is the one on this list that goes somewhere genuinely dark, which is what turned her from a scene stealer into the emotional centre of the films. You would get a friend who never pities you, never softens the truth, and never once lets you take yourself too seriously. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 3 Xavier's Final Confession 'Logan' (2017) Image via 20th Century Studios Of Stewart's many moving performances across his career, one of the top ones comes in the form of his time as Professor Xavier in the dystopian neo-Western film, Logan. It's in this film he plays a Charles ridden with dementia and struggling with age. It's genuinely heartbreaking in every single way. It gets even worse, though, when he gives a final confession in the farmhouse bedroom... to the wrong person. A speech initially intended for Logan (Hugh Jackman) about his greatest failure—greatest regret in life. He weeps as he talks about the realization he makes as he remembers what happened all those years ago in Westchester: He caused the accidental deaths of the X-Men in one of the psychic seizures he struggles with throughout the film. But he says it to X-24 (Jackman) instead, leading to him ending his life. It's gut-wrenching—even more so now—and one of the defining scenes of his time as the character. He never gets to tell Logan this statement, and it hurts so much to see, especially with X-24 representing the younger Logan filled with rage, around the age he would have been when Xavier accidentally killed his friends. It's layered to the brim with subtext and that leaves it feeling profoundly deep, and makes his last scene in this 2017 film incredibly moving. 2 Logan Meets Professor X 'X-Men' (2000) Image via 20th Century Studios Logan—Wolverine—is typically the main character focused on in the X-Men films, so, it only makes sense that one of the biggest scenes for Xavier would be when he meets Logan. He punches a joke at the man—"What do they call you? Wheels?"—who stays cool-headed and peaceful. It's a perfect introduction to his character, showing exactly the kind of man he is to this grizzled, violent, and untrusting mutant. It's clear that, despite the Wolverine's resistance and all-around rudeness, Xavier truly wants to help him. He truly does care about this man, which immediately gets audiences invested in his character. Someone who would respond so nicely and peacefully to a man like Logan is automatically someone the audience could deem is most likely a good person. Within just a few minutes, the viewers are told everything they need to know about the man, and gets them on board with him almost immediately. 1 The Chess Match 'X-Men' (2000) Image via 20th Century Studios The iconic chess match between Xavier and Magneto is one of the most iconic moments in superhero cinema. As stated, the war between the two characters' ideologies is the true conflict between the two. It has more impact on the franchise than any other physical confrontation could ever have, and it's the chess match they have that acts as the best depiction of it. When they sit down for their legendary chess match, it ends up becoming a symbol of their battle of principals. It's a quiet, mental battle, rather than one fought with those beneath them. Those fights between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants are the icing on the cake that is this mental conflict between the two former comrades. That's why this scene is so strong and profound. It's scenes like this that are going to make seeing them together in Avengers: Doomsday so moving and heartbreaking to watch, with it being Stewart and McKellen's final scenes on screen together. X-Men Release Date July 13, 2000 Runtime 104 minutes Director Bryan Singer Writers Bryan Singer, David Hayter, Tom DeSanto Producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Richard Donner Sequel(s) X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men Apocalypse Franchise(s) Marvel, X-Men Main Genre Adventure Budget $75 Million Studio(s) Marvel Distributor(s) 20th Century