Of all the upcoming Marvel movies on the way, the one I’m most anticipating is absolutely the new X-Men film. When the cast was announced at D23, I realized right away that a group of talented actors had been chosen to play the iconic roles. But I’ll be honest, I’ve felt kind of neutral about the casting of Christopher Abbott as Professor X. But now that I’ve seen him lead his new Netflix show, my excitement has only grown.
I Hadn't Really Seen The New X-Men Actor In Anything Until Now
I’ve known of Chris Abbott for a while. I remember he was on Girls way back when, but otherwise I’ve mostly seen him in a few supporting roles over the years here and there. And, I mean, if you look at his work, he’s primarily known for independent films. The higher-profile movies he’s done are The Wolfman and Kraven the Hunter, which both flopped.
I had a sense he was a good actor who takes chances and cares about the work more than the notoriety. Now I’ve seen him really lead something thanks to my binge of East of Eden with a Netflix subscription, and I have a lot more to say.
Why I'm Sold On Chris Abbott's Professor X After East Of Eden
In East of Eden, Abbott plays the role of Adam Trask, who’s at the center of this book-to-screen adaptation based on John Steinbeck’s magnum opus of a novel. We track the life of Adam from a child to the days after he serves in the U.S. Army in the Indian Wars. Abbott takes over once Adam is a war veteran who wanders back home to reunite with his estranged brother Charles (Mike Faist).
It’s not long after the brothers reunite when something new tears them apart. The arrival of a woman named Cathy (Florence Pugh) who’s been almost beaten to death. Adam instantly falls in love with her, while Charles is (rightly) untrusting of the mysterious woman. I won’t tell the story of East of Eden much further than that, but it’s a multi-generational spanning epic that has Abbott’s character in the middle of things the whole time.
After seeing the likes of Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy play Professor X, I think there are a few qualities that made them perfect for the role. Both of them have a very distinguished quality to them; they are discerning, idealistic, and have a certain sex appeal, too. Professor X is also a wheelchair user, but you never really feel like he isn’t capable or is allowing his disability to rule over him.
Chris Abbott’s East of Eden role isn’t the same as Professor X, and Adam Trask’s story takes place from the late 19th century to 1918. Though there are some shared qualities between the characters that made me excited to see what he does with Professor X. While watching the very bingeable drama, I found myself saying to myself, “Yeah, I see it! He’s our Professor X.” And I just have a good feeling now that he’ll both bring something new to the role and do the character justice.
You can watch East of Eden now on Netflix, and get ready for the latest in the X-Men movies, set to hit theaters on May 8, 2028.
