We’ve already seen Chris Pine step in as a younger version of Captain Kirk, so why not see James McAvoy do the same with Captain Picard? After all, it would be nice to see a younger version of Picard and see if he was really the type of individual that he’s painted himself as in various descriptions. McAvoy has already stepped into Patrick Stewart’s footsteps after all by taking on the role of a younger Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies, so it’s not a big stretch to think that he could do this and make it work. In fact, he’s been rather adamant about taking on the role, though he admits that he’s not expecting a call anytime soon to come and play the character. But maybe after this rant in MovieWeb it would be a good idea to at least give him a look:
“Any other world is just an alternate reality in a bad episode of Star Trek. It’s happening. If they don’t hire me, I’m going to make it on my phone! I’m calling that right now. I’m doing the virtual lockdown equivalent of rubbing my scent all over Patrick’s face and saying, ‘This territory is mine.’ All other bald actors can f*** off. It’s me.”
Admittedly it’s a little funnier than anything else, but it’s a desire that can be seen pretty clearly since McAvoy has designs on the part that might make a lot of sense considering that he’s already walked in Stewart’s path and obviously believes he can continue to do so. To be certain, McAvoy does have the talent and he’s already been shown to be good enough to give a performance that is up to par with Patrick’s and can bring a big dose of dignity to a role that was already established ahead of his attempts. Some people might want to think that he didn’t really play that great of a character in Professor X, but comic fans will recall that the Professor was a middle-aged to an older man already when the X-Men were unveiled to the public, and it’s easy to think that as a younger man he was far different, especially when he had two functioning legs and the world at his fingertips should he but choose to take that step. Thankfully in the comics, he was never written in as a full-fledged villain, though he did make decisions now and again that were less than honorable. The fact that the character wasn’t perfect, and that both McAvoy and Stewart played him as such, is enough to grant that McAvoy would bring the humanizing aspect to one of the greatest Starfleet captains to ever command a starship. This would be huge since learning how Picard became the reasonable, rational human being he portrayed on The Next Generation and into the movies, most of the time at least, would be kind of intriguing.
It would also give more insight to Picard’s youth, which is likely documented by now, but would still be great to see on the screen. How it would be done is the question of course, and whether anyone would even look James’ way is a bigger question, but should the chance be given to him to audition one can only imagine that he’ll jump at it and do his absolute best to make sure that he outdoes anyone else that might be asked. Realistically he does feel like the right guy for the role since becoming a young Picard would give him a little more freedom than the role of Professor Xavier did, barring the movies X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past. Who else wants to see a younger and arrogant Picard? How much fun would it be to see a cadet that thought he knew everything and was so bound and determined to prove it? This must be a trait of any would-be captains that want to command their own ship one day since only a few captains that follow the rules have ever been noticed that much. The best captains tend to break or at least bend the rules from time to time, whether it’s when they’re still in Starfleet or when they’re in command, and it definitely makes for a better show or movie, and it tends to pull the crew tighter together since breaking protocol is usually done for a good reason.
But seeing McAvoy as a young and possibly rebellious Picard does sound like a lot of fun since it would be another look into the past of a popular character with an actor that has actually done his best to step into the mind of the actor that came before him in a given role. Maybe if Patrick Stewart recommended James it would help a bit. It certainly couldn’t hurt.
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