Could a "Mastermind" movie work?

[madmonk]

You know, Jason Wyngarde. Could it work? How would it work? And which of his arcs would a first film in a possible franchise cover? I realize very little is known about his background, but he's one of my favourite mutants, so I'm curious to sort out consensus here.

[DragonsChi]

While I think Masterminds powers are one of the coolest mutant powers you can have.....a Mastermind solo movie will never happen.

[planetxmen]

He’s technically a rapist, so no.

[NexusTenebrare]

A movie about a minor villain from a few decades ago?
No, it wouldn't work.

[Michael Watkins]

I'd choose Mysterio over Mastermind.

[Sutekh]

I'd choose Mysterio over Mastermind.

Yes! I'd love the 'meta-commentary' from having a movie about someone using movie special effects and stagecraft to perform heists and cons!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #129 Jan 1980
The Dark Phoenix Saga: Part 1 of 9 - "God Spare the Child..."
The X-Men bid their friends farewell as they prepare to depart Muir Island. Banshee chooses to stay behind.
Having lost his sonic scream ability, he feels his usefulness to the team is limited
whereas Moira needs his support while she recovers from her recent traumas.

Cyclops extends offers to Madrox, Havok and Polaris to join the X-Men as Banshee’s replacement.
Each of them respectfully decline and so the X-Men leave.
Phoenix leaves with them, however, having finally rejoined the team.

As the Blackbird cruises over the Atlantic, another private jet owned by the Hellfire Club transports Jason Wyngarde to the States as well.

He once again causes Jean to experience hallucinations of being an 18th century noblewoman who is in love with his own ancestor.
This time, he creates an illusion that they are crossing the ocean on a ship together.

Jean had previously assumed her visions were some manifestation of Proteus’s reality-warping ability, but now thinks to herself
that her Phoenix abilities may be causing her to experience actual timeslips, perhaps experiencing the life of an ancestor of hers.

Scott’s approach snaps her out of this supposed timeslip and the two discuss their relationship.
Jean lets him know that she’s gotten glimpses of Colleen Wing from the other X-Men’s thoughts.
Scott assures her that his brief “romance" with Colleen Wing only happened
because he thought Jean was dead and that Colleen is a friend, nothing more.

The two confess their love for each other and share a kiss.

As the Blackbird approaches the X-Mansion, the team is alerted that the security perimeter has been breached.
Storming into the school, the X-Men are surprised to find that their mentor, Charles Xavier, has returned to Earth.

Over the next few days, Scott and Jean spend a lot of time catching up.
Jean ponders to herself how she “overheard” the Professor’s thoughts and knows that he returned due to concern for her new powers.
The couple are approaching the Danger Room when Wolverine suddenly storms out of it.
Scott realizes that Professor X who has had very little time actively leading the new team is using
the same heavy-handed methods he used to mentor the original team.
Scott advises him that the new team is not a group of teenagers and that he’s learned that he must use a different approach with them.
Xavier dismisses this advice, suggesting that Cyclops’s own confessed inability to discipline the team was a failure of leadership.

Before their argument can continue, Cerebro alerts them to the existence of two
new mutants whose powers have manifested, one in Chicago and the other in New York.
The Professor mobilizes the X-Men to investigate the two new mutants:
he will lead half the team to Chicago while Scott takes the other half to New York.
The team is unaware that they are being spied on by the inner circle of the Hellfire Club, which includes Jason Wyngarde.
The shadowy members of the Hellfire Club want to acquire these mutants before the X-Men do.
The Club’s White Queen is dispatched to deal with the one in Chicago, while Jason Wyngarde is sent to deal with the one in New York.

In the suburb of Deerfield, Illinois, thirteen-and-a-half year old Katherine "Kitty" Pryde returns home from ballet practice to find her parents
meeting with Ms. Emma Frost the White Queen in her civilian guise, who is headmistress of the exclusive Massachusetts Academy.
Kitty instinctively dislikes Ms. Frost and realizes that the fact that her parents are
discussing sending her to a private school means that her parents intend to split up.
She lays down on her bed in her upstairs bedroom to rest as a migraine hits her.
After enduring the pain for a few moments, she opens her eyes to find herself on the floor of the living room!
Baffled, she rushes back up to her room just as her parents see Ms. Frost out and welcome their next visitors:
Charles Xavier, accompanied by Ororo, Peter and Logan. Like Ms. Frost, Xavier is seeking Kitty as a student at his own school.
Kitty spies on Xavier and his students and decides they are much more interesting. In particular, she thinks that Peter is “cute!”

While Charles talks with Kitty’s parents, the rest of the team take her down to a local malt shop to get acquainted.
Kitty strikes up an instant friendship with Ororo, who confides to her that they are the X-Men, much to Kitty's surprise.
Meanwhile, Logan and a flustered Peter check out a few girly mags in the store’s racks.
Just then, three armored mercenaries barrel through the storefront window and attack the three X-Men.
Each of the X-Men’s attackers has armor specially equipped to neutralize their abilities.
As the fight erupts, Kitty cringes in fear and is extremely surprised when she passes right through the outside wall,
landing in the alleyway behind the shop. Before she can fully comprehend what happened, she passes out.

Storm hasn’t noticed exactly how Kitty departed but is relieved to see that she’s gone.
Meanwhile, the X-Men realize that they can defeat their enemies if they switch opponents;
they then easily trounce their attackers. Their victory is brief, though, as they are then struck down
by a powerful psionic bolt from the White Queen. She orders more minions to take the X-Men prisoner.
As they all speed away, the Queen detonates explosives laced within her defeated minions’ armor, killing them as the penalty for their failure.

The Hellfire Club’s vehicle speeds away while the White Queen orders the X-Men to be stripped out of their uniforms.
When asked what she intends to do about Kitty, she dismisses her, convinced that she can get her any time she wants.
Unbeknownst to them, Kitty has used her newfound phasing ability to sneak aboard the hovercraft.
She wonders how she can possibly save her new friends all by herself.

Story by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Art by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

[MichaelC]

Stories about villains can work, but that villain must, at the least, deeply care about some individuals. Walter White truly cares about his son and Jesse. Harley Quinn truly cares about Poison Ivy. The solo movie version of Joker truly cares about several people until the world utterly beats him down, and even then likes the dwarf character enough to spare his life despite it being an immense risk.

Does Mastermind care about anyone at all other than himself?

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Top 10 Scary Mastermind Facts

[ChrisIII]

Technically we did have him as a cinematic villain in X2; although he obviously was very different, he was still named Jason and used illusions.

[Shadowcat]

I’d watch it if it featured his two daughters, Martinique and Regan.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Mastermind would work better as a supporting player in someone's film than the lead character.

[DrNewGod]

First, Mastermind is a SERIOUSLY creepy dude. Second, if Pinhead could anchor a franchise, why not?

[Michael Watkins]

First, Mastermind is a SERIOUSLY creepy dude. Second, if Pinhead could anchor a franchise, why not?

Pinhead was part of an ensemble cast in a movie not called 'Pinhead.' and the later movies sucked.

[scouse mouse]

I’d watch it if it featured his two daughters, Martinique and Regan.

Seconded!!