Originally Posted by
bat39
You're onto something there with Xavier's background. I think if we're getting a reboot, and we're focusing on the same characters, then it makes sense to at least explore aspects of their backstories that haven't been highlighted before. Say what you will about the Andrew Garfield TASM films, they covered aspects from the comics that the Raimi films didn't - Gwen Stacy, the fate of Peter's parents etc.
Xavier's ties to the FBI incidentially were sort of covered in First Class - albeit the FBI was swapped for the CIA and Fred Duncan was reimagined as the 'Man in Black' (whose real name may well have been Fred Duncan, for all we know). But that is a fascinating element to unpack - the idea that Xavier worked with the government, at least to begin with, and that the X-men started out as a covert arm of an federal agency. And it would actually work well with the MCU where, by and large, superheroes have worked with the government, despite some tension. How would that play out in a context where the government, and much of civil society, is involved in the oppression of mutants? How do the X-men feel about being agents for an establishment that is, at the very least, complicit in discrimination against their kind? And yet, its not black and white of course, because the X-men are helping keep the peace and working, at least notionally, towards a better world...
As far as race-bending goes, I'm opposed to it for any major, iconic characters where it will inevitably trigger a political shitstorm and be viewed as a bad faith gesture by large sections of the audience (assuming of course, that it isn't actually one). That apart, the idea of reimagining Magneto's backstory in a more modern context does fascinate me at a purely creative level, but right now I feel any attempt to do that will be contentious, to say the least.