Charles Xavier (Professor X)

The X-Men movie series
X-Men video games
Logan
Doctor Strange and the Mutiverse of Madness





Jean-Luc Picard

Star Trek: The Next Generation: 7 seasons and 176 episodes (broadcast TV)

Star Trek 7 through 10 (theatrical movies)

Star Trek: Picard: 3 seasons and 30 episodes (streaming series)

Star Trek video games


With Stewart acting in his last hurrah as Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek Picard, thought it might be interesting to ask the nerds here who they think he will be best known as to them.

and since Picard was in theatrical movies, that's why I'm also asking it here. And he was most recently seen as Xavier once again in Doctor Strange 2.

Picard all day, every day.

Honestly, my second thought was Scrooge, not Xavier.

In my heart, he will always be Sterling.

He’ll always be 💩 to me.

That or the World’s greatest Erotic Cake decorator.

How is this even a question that someone could even imagine has an answer other than Picard? It's like asking if Shatner will be best remembered as Kirk or TJ Hooker.

My second thought was the bad guy who gets his nose bitten off in Conspiracy Theory. Xavier didn’t cross my mind.

Either that or Mr. Bullock on American Dad

Gurney Halleck

5 big screen movies, a few cameos and a voice over in multiple video games for Professor X stands out much more than a mostly forgotten 80s TV show for Shatner. Of course Shatner is going to be immortalized in pop culture as James T. Kirk.

I think between Picard and Xavier Jean-Luc Picard is far more iconic personally. Seven seasons of TNG, four movies, and three seasons of Picard.

Not to say Professor X isn’t memorable too but there will be other actors to portray that character and truthfully some of the movies where Stewart portrayed him weren’t very good.

He originated the character of Picard. Versus Xavier who existed for decades before Patrick Stewart sat in the chair. So yeah not even a question.

I think he'll be remembered as both almost equally. Different generations grew up with him as Picard as well as Xavier. If you were a kid in the 00s, you never knew him from TNG.

It's like the generation that loved the Star Wars prequels because that was their first experience before saw the original trilogy. The same with the different eras of Spider-Man. Kids today are into Tom Holland and probably only because of NWH do they know about the Tobey and Andrew films.

When they were thinking about doing an X-Men movie.. I don't think there was anyone who didn't see Sir Pat Stew in the role.

He'll always be Dr. Armstrong, possessed by Mathilda May's space vampire, in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce to me ...


(Never watched Star Trek: TNG ... )

I'd say Picard, but it's generational. Unless they're Star Trek fans, I'd bet people under 35 barely know Picard from a hole in the wall. Same deal with Xavier and people over 55.

The only thing I'd add is that once Disney does their own version of the X-Men, the Fox movies will begin to quietly leave the collective consciousness. Even now, the anticipation of Disney X-Men has diminished their cultural relevance. The fact that the last couple were really bad certainly didn't help.

Oh, you mean Captain Picard, right?

It's Picard, and it's not even close. Picard came first and spans far, far more screentime than Professor X has. Not to mention it was his first breakthrough role.

Yes. The original, iconic versions of comic characters are the print versions. Comics are a visual medium so that set the iconic version in stone. Whereas text medium, like novels, didn't present a visual depiction, so the actor most popular in the screen role gets the iconic status.
Characters who never existed until a screen version will always be known for that character. Their likeness becomes synonymous with the character's likeness. Just like they make actors look like the real person in a true story, subsequent actor's look like the original actor. Chris Pine is playing William Shatner playing Capt. Kirk. If the Picard character ever appears on screen with a different actor, this actor will resemble Stewart and imitate his speech inflections etc. like they're portraying a real person because the character of Picard and the actor Stewart can't be separated.

Didn't know til later that he played Guinevere's father in Excalibur.

Y'all seriously think young people don't know who Picard is? That's ridiculous. I bet you hold up his picture to any young person and they'll know who it is and identify him as Captain Picard. They might not say Captain Picard. They may say "Hey he's that guy from the memes" but we know they mean Captain Picard.

Yeah, I think Picard is about as ingrained into pop culture as much as Kirk and Spock are at this point. Even if people aren’t Star Trek fans they may at least recognize the character. Picard memes are still pretty popular and not always necessarily amongst geeks (at least from others I’ve seen use them).

Although he will be remembered in his other roles (Charles Xavier in particular), I think his most iconic role and the role he'll most be remembered as will be Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Well, TJ Hooker, of course.

Gurney Halleck of course

Picard, of course. There is other seminal work though.