How I Approached the Ending of X-Men: The Last Stand and the Possibility of a Patrick Stewart Return

As a screenwriter, I've had my fair share of exciting projects, but one that still stands out in my mind is X-Men: The Last Stand. In 2006, when we were working on this film, it seemed unlikely that we would see original cast members like Patrick Stewart return to the franchise. At least, not until we approached the ending.

In hindsight, I realize now that our approach was quite different from what we have today. We treated X-Men: The Last Stand as a final goodbye for the original actors, wanting to leave room for a happy future without them. It's interesting to look back and see how much has changed since then.

One of the most memorable scenes in the film is when Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) says goodbye to his younger self (James McAvoy). This scene was emotional to film, and I remember Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart being very close friends in real life. Their friendship added a layer of authenticity to their on-screen relationship.

The theme of X-Men: The Last Stand is one that resonates with audiences - what if we knew then what we know now? Would we make different choices? This idea is reflected in the emotional scene where older Magneto (Ian McKellen) tells older Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) that they wasted years fighting only to get a few of them back.

Fast forward to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and while the original cast doesn't have a lot of screen time together, there's still a sense of affection and closure. In fact, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are best friends in real life, which made their scenes together all the more special.

When it comes to the possibility of a crossover between franchises, I don't rule it out entirely. While we wrote the final scenes of X-Men: The Last Stand as a goodbye to the original cast, there's still room for mystery and speculation about what happened to some of the characters.

In the end, our goal was to tell a story that felt like a conclusion to their stories. We wanted to leave room for interpretation and hope that fans would be satisfied with the resolution we provided.

As I continue to work on future projects, including X-Men: Apocalypse and Fantastic Four, I'm excited to see how these franchises will evolve and what new stories we can tell within them.

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