Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige is paying tribute to the late Patrick Stewart, who starred as Professor Charles Xavier since 2000’s “X-Men.”

“I’ll never forget the first time I saw Sir Patrick Stewart on the set of the first X-Men,” said Feige, producer and president of Marvel Studios, in a statement shared after news broke that Stewart died on Wednesday at age 86. “After years of knowing him as the inimitable Captain Picard, I was in awe — and he turned out to be everything I had seen on screen and more: brilliant, charming, warm, generous, with a quiet strength and gravitas.”

“Away from the cameras, he was even more remarkable, with a wonderfully sharp sense of humor,” Feige continued. “It was a true privilege to know him and to work with him. His legacy lives on not only in decades of extraordinary work, but in the many, many people he mentored. He will be deeply missed.”

Stewart has appeared as Professor X in nine movies, including the original Fox trilogy (“X-Men,” “X2: X-Men United” and “X-Men: The Last Stand”), as well as 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and 2017’s “Logan,” plus Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in 2022. Stewart is set to reprise his role in “Avengers: Doomsday,” in theaters on Dec. 18.

Marvel Studios also released a statement memorializing the legendary actor for bringing Charles Xavier to life with “extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity” and “defining the character for generations of fans.”

“He was a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman,” the statement reads. “Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.”