To start preparing for Avengers: Doomsday, we dove into Dr. Doom’s most iconic adversaries: the Fantastic Four. Now, it’s time to examine another major group confirmed to enter the MCU: the X-Men. And fittingly, we’re kicking things off with the man who started it all: Professor Charles Xavier. Despite being one of Marvel’s most powerful telepaths, he is most endearingly remembered for his relentless pursuit of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants.
Origins
Long before Charles entered the fight against human hatred or his mutant enemies, Charles was already fighting for his life before he was even born. While he was still in his mother’s womb, he had a twin sister (who would eventually become known as Cassandra Nova), and the pair were already psychically linked. However, sensing how dangerous she was, he psychically attacked her to protect himself. This would classify her as stillborn, but she would actually survive as a psychic entity that closely resembles her brother and eventually get her own body, causing one of the greatest tragedies in X-Men history (but I’m getting ahead of myself).
Anyway, after such a harrowing experience, Charles would be born into a wealthy and prestigious family. But, of course, that didn’t mean the horrors were over. First, there was the continuing emergence of his powers, which made him sense emotions and hear thoughts almost all the time. This would be hard enough for anyone at that age, but tragedy would soon add to an already intense mental battle. Brian Xavier, Charles’ biological father—a nuclear researcher (and was actually involved in genetic research secretly conducted by Mr. Sinister)—died in a horrible accident. His mother would soon remarry her husband’s colleague, Kurt Marko, but that would only make things worse for the grieving family. Not only did Kurt abuse Charles’ mom to the point of alcoholism, but Kurt’s son, Cain (who would eventually become the villain Juggernaut), would also abuse Charles every waking moment of his life. Things (somehow) got even worse when his mother eventually died (due to the effects of her alcoholism and Kurt’s abuse), and then his stepdad would die after rescuing his two sons from an explosion (and would even beg Charles for forgiveness if you can believe it). Throughout Charles’ childhood up to this point, his psychic powers continued to grow. They made Charles sense every negative emotion from his family, every ounce of hatred Kurt and Cain had towards him and his mother, and honestly, it’s amazing how none of this ever broke Charles.
In fact, Charles would go on to Oxford University and begin his journey into the Professor X we know and love today. Charles would first study psychology and the human mind to better understand his powers, and also people in general (which would serve as the basis for striving towards peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants). Later on, he would undertake studies on genetics for that same reason, but also because of his growing fascination with theories on mutants and how he can help them. After serving briefly in the army, Charles would travel the world and learn all he could, which led him to an Israelite clinic for holocaust survivors. There, he would meet a man who would change the course of Charles’ life and become an iconic part of the Marvel universe as a whole: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (the man who would become Magneto). At first, the two bonded over their shared desire to protect and help their fellow mutants, but their philosophies (Charles’ peaceful mindset compared to Erik’s violence against humans) clashed to the point where they parted ways. Along the way, Charles would end up paralyzed after an encounter with an alien supervillain, but he would go on to establish a school to help fellow mutants learn to control their powers (popularly known and referred to as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters). And from there, he would form the first version of the X-Men, and the rest is history.
Powers and Abilities
Charles is widely regarded as one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, with recent comics even confirming his telepathy is now at Omega-level. This may seem odd at first glance, since most people assume he can only read minds or require the machine Cerebro to unleash his true power, but these assumptions couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, he can read minds and sense emotions, but he can also read the subconscious and map out complicated thoughts or feelings. With most telepaths we see in comics or other media, we only see them do a surface-level scanning of another’s brain and occasionally try to dominate it, but Charles is so brilliant and powerful that not even the most hidden secrets are safe from him. In addition, he can also link minds to himself to form a communication network, sending and receiving telepathic messages to and from his allies. The craziest part is that Charles can already reach minds in a 250-mile radius, but with the enhancements from Cerebro, he can use these abilities on a global scale! But instead of dominating minds, he mainly uses it to locate fellow mutants to bring them to his school, locate allies and enemies if needed, or communicate with his team, no matter where on the planet they are.
Yet, despite these peaceful uses of his powers, Charles is not above using them offensively if necessary. For instance, Charles has been shown to create mental blocks in the minds of dangerous or potentially dangerous mutants, such as Jean Grey, to keep her Omega-level powers in check. He’s also helped Rogue with mental blocks to keep her from accessing the full extent of her powers, and also to protect her from the voices of people she’s touched and absorbed. But if the situation demands more, Charles can go a whole step further. Again, he would avoid this if he could. Still, Charles can easily control minds, making people freeze in place, speak through them like a ventriloquist, or manipulate bodily functions/pain receptors. Charles could also force people to see powerful illusions that feel real enough, or even manipulate/completely erase memories! Further, thanks to the intense amounts of psionic energy his brain can produce, he can also turn his telepathy into blasts of pure psychic energy. Finally, he has the underrated ability to astral project or transfer his mind to another body. He’ll often do this if he needs to fight psychic enemies like the Shadow King on the astral plane, or if he gets killed, then he can survive by taking over another body (like what we see in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” when he takes over the body of a braindead unconscious man). But what makes him especially dangerous is how, combined with ALL of these powers, is that he’s an amazing tactician. Charles is already very intelligent, albeit not on the same level as people like Tony Stark or Reed Richards, but still very well-versed in many forms of science. Combine that with his military training, and he can pick apart enemies as the fight goes on. In addition, his intellect (also assisted by his psychic-given preconception) allows him to quickly analyze the situation, develop a short or long-term solution, and execute it all before he uses his powers.
However, just because Charles is a strong mental opponent doesn’t mean he’s all-powerful or invincible. Like any other hero or villain, Charles has his own share of weaknesses, and I don’t just mean his disability. For instance, much like the Fantastic 4, one of his main weaknesses is the risk of burning himself out. His mind is already powerful without his mutant abilities, but exerting that much strength along with extended use of his psychic powers could crush him under the strain. Even if he was at full strength, though, it often won’t matter if he goes up against someone who won’t break as easily. Specifically, Charles will have a harder time combating other telepaths, such as Jean Grey (to say nothing of her being backed up by the Phoenix Force), Emma Frost, Quentin Quire, or Legion. Similarly skilled telepaths or cosmic deities can either resist his influence, counter him, or even dominate him if he doesn’t keep his guard up. Finally, while this last one isn’t a weakness per se, Charles’ true limit is himself. In other words, Charles is held back because of his morals. Even when the situation calls for more effort from him, Charles will go out of his way to avoid dominating or destroying his opponents’ minds unless he truly feels he has no other choice. While this is undoubtedly his greatest strength in his ability to restrain himself, refusing to make tough decisions can prevent certain victories and lead to harmful consequences.
Greatest Feats
But don’t let these limitations fool you, because as I’ve said before, Charles will take that extra step if the situation demands it. And let’s just say we should be grateful he’s a good guy, because Charles can be an absolute menace (to put it lightly) if he wanted to. For example, remember when I said Cerebro enhances his powers to the point where he can read minds or locate mutants anywhere on Earth? Well, there was one time where he was able to use his powers on a global scale WITHOUT it! In “Uncanny X-Men” issue 117, the X-Men were stranded in basically a hidden prehistoric land known as the Savage Land. During the event, Charles encountered the former host of an evil psychic entity called the Shadow King, who was attempting to regain power and escape into the psychic plane. Knowing the Shadow King could escape into the minds of anyone on Earth and put them in danger, he used all his strength to “switch off” the minds of every last person on the planet. This didn’t kill them, of course, but it essentially froze them all in place. With nowhere left to run, Shadow King was forced to engage Charles in a psychic battle, in which the professor emerged victorious. Think about that for a second: Charles is not only powerful enough to influence or control a planetwide population, but also to maintain that connection while fighting an insanely powerful entity at the same time! Plus, this shows that Charles has the potential to enslave or destroy the human race, but instead uses it to protect the very people who hate him and all mutants.
However, Charles is not above using this same level of protection for his fellow mutants as well. In this one case, he goes above and beyond to ensure the mutant race survives, and doubles as one of the greatest scientific feats in Marvel comics! This takes place during the events of “House of X,” where Professor X learns through his old love, Moira MacTaggert (revealed to be a mutant who can resurrect herself and remember past lives), that mutants will always be doomed to extinction no matter what he or even Erik tries to ensure their survival. In response to this, Charles enacts a plan to escape death by inventing immortality. He does this by taking Cerebro and upgrading it to where he can store backups of every mutant mind he records, including everything from memories to personalities and consciousness patterns. Then he incorporates a group of mutants known as “The Five” (Hope Summers, Egg, Proteus, Elixir, and Tempus) to create clone bodies for the backups. Once completed, he uses the upgraded Cerebro to move that backup into the empty clone body, and the mutant is officially reborn. Whether or not these reborn mutants count as true “resurrections” (are they the same person, or is this like the clones from Star Wars?) is still up for debate even to this day, but this act absolutely cannot afford to be overlooked! No matter how you slice it, Xavier found a way to make mutants (or at least the mutant race) immortal, and only he can make it happen. While this wasn’t meant to paint him in a negative light, the fact that he holds the power of life and death over a race that humans already fear is kinda terrifying (not to mention ethically questionable).
But by far, one of the absolute craziest things Charles has ever done is square up against the Dark Phoenix itself! Yes, you read that right: Charles Xavier challenged the literal embodiment of death and rebirth, a cosmic force of creation that possessed one of his first students. It all started when the Phoenix Force first possessed Jean Grey, but over time, her control began to slip due to many factors (struggling with identity, emotional instability, being manipulated by a supervillain, etc). This would taint the Phoenix Force, officially becoming the Dark Phoenix and committing horrific deeds such as destroying a star, resulting in the deaths of everyone in a whole solar system. Faced with no other choice, Charles fought an intense psychic battle with her. But he doesn’t fight her in the traditional sense: charging in head-on and blasting her with psionic energy or whatever until she submits. Instead, he fights smart. While defending himself against the Dark Phoenix and keeping it in check, he targets Jean’s memories and humanity to bring her heart out and drown out the entity. Along the way, he rebuilds all the psychic barriers he originally put on her, slowly but surely isolating the Dark Phoenix from Jean. This effort would lay the groundwork for Jean to ultimately sacrifice herself, so the Phoenix Force could not take control of her again. Despite how exhausting this was for Charles, it’s insane how he was able to withstand attacks from one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, trade blow for blow, and live to tell about it. What makes this especially impressive is his high levels of discipline (thanks to his studies and military training), mixed with his pre-existing knowledge of the human mind, and finally, his understanding of Jean, which all helped him navigate through Jean’s mind and save her.
Conclusion
Moral of the story: DO NOT let the wheelchair fool you! Professor X is NOT a guy you wanna mess with! An already intelligent tactician, combined with psychic powers, makes for a lethal combination! And I’m positive I speak for many fans when I say that I am so excited to see Patrick Stewart return as one of his most iconic roles, and I can’t wait to see how he and Magneto respond to the rising threat of Doom!
