13. Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier) - The X-Men Series
Though Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is unquestionably the headliner of the X-Men films, it is Patrick Stewart's Professor Charles Xavier who is surely the franchise's beating heart and voice of reason. Stewart's spot-on rendition of the character is at perfect odds with Ian McKellen's diametrically opposed Magneto, as they come to frequently blows about the relationship between humanity and mutant-kind. While Magneto's motives are completely questionable even when he finds himself teaming with Xavier, Xavier is the moral center of the franchise, teaching and guiding his school of mutants to virtue and victory. The X-Men franchise is certainly one of the better-acted comic book franchises to date, and though James McAvoy has made a significant dent playing the past version of Xavier, Stewart's paternal presence and calm demeanour is a welcome compliment to Wolverine's fiery persona and Jackman's physical performance. Thankfully, after being unceremoniously killed off in X-Men: The Last Stand, Xavier has been brought back alive and kicking for the newly-released X-Men: Days of Future Past.