Magneto as an Anti-Hero

[gridlore]

I've always wanted Marvel's next hard reboot to recast Magneto as less a stereotypical supervillain and more a budding terrorist and political activist. He is part of an oppressed minority and organizes the Mutant Liberation Army to fight back against states that try to do to mutants what he himself saw Germany do to Jews.

Make him far more morally ambiguous. His goal is good, freedom for mutants, but his methods cross the line. So you have the X-Men, another group of mutants trying to prove that they are deserving of a place in society being forced to fight the Mutant Liberation Army while wondering if, in the end, Magneto isn't right about things.

This creates a far deeper conflict, especially between Professor X and Magneto. One is a child of privilege who never really felt what it means to be hunted later in life. Given the resources required to run the Xavier School and manage all the secret facilities for the X-men, the Prof must be from old money. On the other hand, Magneto was a child in Nazi Germany who saw his family and friends rounded up, and spent time in the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz. He knows hate and what happens when fear is weaponized. The two will never agree.

But Magneto is charismatic as hell. if he's in his early forties in the 1960s, he'd be a natural rising radical in West Germany and the US. He'd attract a following of normals, who believe his vision of a benevolent rule by H. sapiens superior. By the early 80s, he'd have a network that supported him and gathered intelligence.

OK, I'm rolling here. What if, to increase its visibility and appeal to the masses, he and the MLA swoop in and topple the apartheid government in South Africa in the mid-80s? Mandela is released, and a militant ANC government takes charge, declaring the RSA is now open to mutants. Suddenly, you have a bin-Laden in Afghanistan problem. Magento is protected by a newly rich and surging nation.

I wonder what the Black Panther thinks of this? Is Dr. Doom jealous? Or does he see a useful partner?

One last thing, I've used the word mutant here because that's canonical. However, Marvel's Agents of Shield has given us a much better explanation. The Kree-made Terragen Mists. We know that in certain people it activates superpowers. So have the level of mist rising since the 1940s (blame atomic testing, if you like) resulting in more and more people getting powers. So are exposed as adults and change immediately. Others are exposed to the Mists at an early age and only develop powers at puberty.

Damn, I need a good superhero RPG to run.

Comments

[marycatelli]

There were certainly times when that was his characterization in the books. Indeed, he spent some time on the Hero side.

[kengr]

I have vague memories that while Magneto was in the camps, it was because he was Romany, not Jewish.

That doesn't change a lot, but it does affect the "flavor" some.

[marycatelli]

Originally, they just revealed that he was a Holocaust survivor.

Then, they revealed he was Romany. Which, in fact, draws attention to the other group that the Nazis targeted for total extermination.

[kengr]

don't forget that the Nazis also targeted homosexuals (that's the origin of the pink triangle symbol). And unlike the other groups sent to the camps, they were sent to prison when the camps were liberated. Something the German government didn't apologize for until the 1980s.

Jews were the biggies, but there's a long list of groups that got sent to the camps. :-(

[claidheamhmor]

That really sounds awesome. It would add so much depth to him!