‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s Emma Corrin Talks “Homage” To Charles Xavier

When it came time to get into the head of an Xavier, Emma Corrin had plenty of research material.

The Deadpool & Wolverine star recently explained how they prepared to play Cassandra Nova, the villainous twin sister of Dr. Charles Xavier (previously played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy) in the new Marvel crossover, which premieres July 26 in theaters.

“I did look back at those two performances,” they told Screen Rant. “I hesitated before I did because I was like, ‘Do I want to get too close? Will I still be able to make it my own?’ But I found it really interesting how they portrayed someone whose power is very internal and telepathic in that telepathic world. I wanted to see if there were any bits that I could use or pay homage to that, obviously, fans would really enjoy.

“But in terms of the comics, we very much stay true to the comics in terms of Cassandra’s look, the cap and the costume and the weirdy fingers, and definitely, you’ll see echoes of her origin story and her relationship of her brother are very prominent here in terms of her motivation,” added Corrin.

Stewart originated the live-action role of wealthy telepath Charles “Professor X” Xavier in 2000’s X-Men, before McAvoy first played a younger version of the character in the 2011 reboot X-Men: First Class.

In the comic books, Charles killed Cassandra in the womb after sensing she was evil, but she went on to exit the womb and find a body. Becoming his telepathic dark shadow, Cassandra uses her psionic powers to seek revenge on Charles.

Corrin is also opening to playing the character’s twin. “You know what I’ve got a lot in interviews recently is people saying there should be a film where I played Charles and Cassandra,” the nonbinary actor noted. “That would be wild, which I hadn’t thought of, but that is sort of my answer, not that I would play him, but I think to see Cassandra and Charles Xavier meet, everyone loves a bit of family drama!