Recasting Original X-Men Movie If It Came Out Today

2. Mark Strong - Professor X

professor x mark strong
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Mark Strong is the second person on this list with a superhero flop under their belt after 2011's Green Lantern, but as Hal Jordan's mentor Sinestro, he was one of the best things about the movie.

That was no easy feat, either. With all that CGI and all that green screen, it would have been tough to deliver a convincing performance, but he did it, which speaks volumes to his talent as an actor.

Huge blockbusters aside, some of his best work can be found in Body Of Lies, Kick-Ass and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, three vastly different characters that are all confidently portrayed, finely demonstrating Strong's versatility.

With that in mind, he'd surely have no trouble stepping into Professor Xavier's shoes. He's got the right feel - complete with bald head and commanding voice - to make the part work, and age is on his side.

Strong is only one year younger than Fiennes, and since X-Men is about the relationship between Erik and Charles, it will help that they're a similar age to further highlight the parallels between the two (both just want mutants to be accepted, for instance).

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!