X-Men: 10 Massive Questions About Its Confusing Canon
5. Whats The Deal With Professor Xs Paralysis?
Foxs lax approach to continuity means that James McAvoys Charles Xavier was crippled in 1962 during X-Men: First Class, despite the fact that fans had already seen Patrick Stewarts version walking around during a 1980s flashback scene from X-Men: The Last Stand and the final moments of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which must take place around 1980 as well). McAvoy or Stewart? gets a big laugh in Deadpool, but Is he still walking or not? would be just as difficult a question for Fox and their scriptwriters to answer. They tried to remedy this error somewhat in Days Of Future Past by introducing the idea of a drug that could cure Charles paralysis but dampens his mind-reading powers in the process. This doesnt really solve the problem at all, though, as Charles walks and uses his telepathy in quick succession in both The Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine (consequently, the fact that Hank created a power-dampening drug back in the 1970s renders the whole mutant cure thing from 2006s The Last Stand a little moot... couldn't Rogue just use that drug and not have to choose between Bobby and her powers?). The question of when Charles was actuallypermanently wheelchair-bound is sure to be answered in X-Men: Apocalypse. But fans will probably never get an explanation besides the original trilogy are in an irrelevant timeline now, so it doesnt matter as to why Stewarts version of Charles was able to walk and use his powers simultaneously in the 1980s.
