Changing Magneto's origin for the movies?

[Zero Hunter]

The rumors going around is that Marvel might change up Magento's origin when they use him in the movies. Some rumors are saying Giancarlo Esposito (from Breaking Bad) could be cast with Magneto being a survivor of the Rwandan genocide instead of the holocaust. The main point is the holocaust was so long ago now it is is getting harder and harder to have a character who was there without having to have the character be a very old man. People have been saying for a while resetting it his origin in Rwanda or Bosnia is the best solution without having to go dumb ideas like "he ages real slow" or "he was thrown forward in time" troupes.

I would be perfectly fine with changing his origin point because I think you could get the same impact by having him live through one of the more recent atrocities as from the holocaust, but I am curious what die hard fans on place like this message board would think if they changed it.

[Snoop Dogg]

well then it's not magneto

[Digifiend]

Unless they give him a healing factor like Wolverine, yeah, it needs to change. It barely worked in X-Men 2000, when the holocaust was already nearly 60 years ago, meaning Magneto had to be in his mid 70s. It certainly won't work now, two decades later.

[FUBAR007]

The rumors going around is that Marvel might change up Magento's origin when they use him in the movies. Some rumors are saying Giancarlo Esposito (from Breaking Bad) could be cast with Magneto being a survivor of the Rwandan genocide instead of the holocaust. The main point is the holocaust was so long ago now it is is getting harder and harder to have a character who was there without having to have the character be a very old man. People have been saying for a while resetting it his origin in Rwanda or Bosnia is the best solution without having to go dumb ideas like "he ages real slow" or "he was thrown forward in time" troupes.

I would be perfectly fine with changing his origin point because I think you could get the same impact by having him live through one of the more recent atrocities as from the holocaust, but I am curious what die hard fans on place like this message board would think if they changed it.

Since the MCU is a separate timeline, I think it could work just fine. The key is that the emotional core of the character and his motivations remain similar enough to ring true.

Casting Esposito would be quite a coup, too. He's definitely got the chops to pull off the role.

[Snoop Dogg]

Let's take Captain America out of WWII because the ice is a stretch.

[JKtheMac]

What? Surely age regressed Magneto is exactly what the mainstream audience wants?

[Rivka]

well then it's not magneto

Well yeah, exactly. If they want to do that, create a Magneto-like mutant character with the brilliant Giancarlo who survives the Rwandan genocide (or with more complexity, was actually one of the children forced to kill their parents and neighbors using machetes, who now have to live with what the adults forced them to do), then Disney/Marvel should do that. But don't call him "Magneto" because it wouldn't be that character any longer. And the fact that Magneto does live longer isn't a "stupid" idea. In any case, there is a seriously messed-up tendency for media dealing with minority characters to try and answer calls for more diversity and representation not by creating a new character, but replacing an existing minority with another minority. They erase and replace and say, *See, look how diverse we are.* Like there can only be a quota, a certain number of minority or woman characters in this picture.

In any case, that wasn't a "rumor" it was someone suggesting Mr. Esposito for the role. Marvel Studios has been very clear about the X-Men: no decisions have been made about ANY of the characters, including who will appear, what they will look like, which stories will be adapted, etc. Keven Feige did have a meeting with Chris Claremont not long ago.

Magneto can definitely remain a Holocaust survivor in any film, and still be relevant in any modern movie, but Marvel Studios and Disney have not made any decisions. As I've said many times before, how can his origin be a "stretch" in a cinematic universe where there are living planets, talking raccoons, Norse gods, characters who can remake reality with the snap of his fingers, etc. etc.? Magneto's history is only a "problem" for people who don't want the Holocaust and the genocides of WWII to be talked about, who want these to be buried and forgotten.

In general, I wouldn't mind if Magneto and Xavier were kept in limbo for a number of years and first Disney/Marvel X-MEN films focused on a new set of iconic mutants instead.

[Lucyinthesky]

Let's take Captain America out of WWII because the ice is a stretch.

Agreed

If Captain America surviving because of ice isn´t a stretch then I don´t see why it´s a stretch Magneto aging slowly, he´s an extremely powerful mutant after all. It´s curious why this always seems to be a problem for Magneto but not for Bucky, Wolverine, Captain America, Namor, Thor, etc. The MCU is made of super-hero movies, their very concept is a stretch on reality.

Also I believe that if they change his origin he symply would not be Magneto, it will be a different character who shares some of his povs but not Magneto imo.

[CRaymond]

well then it's not magneto

Is Red Son Superman, Superman?

I realize this is a can of worms. Is there a more appropriate analogy for the sake of discourse?

[FUBAR007]

Let's take Captain America out of WWII because the ice is a stretch.

This from the guy who was arguing in another thread that continuity and history don't matter as long as the stories are good.

I love you, man.

[FUBAR007]

Agreed

If Captain America surviving because of ice isn´t a stretch then I don´t see why it´s a stretch Magneto aging slowly, he´s an extremely powerful mutant after all. It´s curious why this always seems to be a problem for Magneto but not for Bucky, Wolverine, Captain America, Namor, Thor, etc. The MCU is made of super-hero movies, their very concept is a stretch on reality.

Also I believe that if they change his origin he symply would not be Magneto, it will be a different character who shares some of his povs but not Magneto imo.

Is MCU Nick Fury still Nick Fury?

[U.N. Owen]

I'm totally against the idea since it may accidentally send the message that genocides are interchangeable. They are most certainly not.

[Snoop Dogg]

Is Red Son Superman, Superman?

I realize this is a can of worms. Is there a more appropriate analogy for the sake of discourse?

AUs are AUs, but when they're doing these movies they try to capture key parts of the characters and their concepts, and ultimately exploring if Superman was not ingrained to American culture is not the same as taking the most popular character most associated with a specific historical event, and changing it for a movie that will define that character forever. The Holocaust is more important than his powers.

[Rivka]

Since the MCU is a separate timeline, I think it could work just fine. The key is that the emotional core of the character and his motivations remain similar enough to ring true.

Casting Esposito would be quite a coup, too. He's definitely got the chops to pull off the role.

Yes! But can you see the subtle shift in focus that the op made? Can Giancarlo play Magneto? Of course he can! He's a great actor, who could easily play a Jewish Holocaust survivor! But the op then implied that IF Mr. Esposito plays Magneto, he *can't possibly* be a Holocaust survivor any longer, that this is the excuse for erasing Magneto's Jewish identity and Holocaust backstory. This is how you can sometimes ascertain a person's real motives in bringing up this subject. What does one thing have to do with the other? Of course Mr. Esposito can play the character Magneto, a Jewish survivor of WWII Auschwitz, and of course there is no reason why as a powerful mutant Magneto can't still be in his prime in 2020 or thereafter.

There isn't actually any reason why Disney/Marvel needs to change Magneto's backstory.

[WeirdSpider]

It's going to have to be changed unless you want to see the X-Men beating up an old man.

Magneto's backstory is great, but it creates huge problems in a universe with a sliding timeline. You could find a way to de-age him but I always thought that was goofy.