The Big Picture
- X-Men Origins: Magneto was in development as a prequel film to explore the backstory of the famous X-Men villain, but it was ultimately shelved.
- The cancellation of X-Men Origins: Magneto may have been influenced by the underwhelming reception to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was considered boring and lacked substance.
- The Writers Strike of 2007-2008 played a significant role in the cancellation of X-Men Origins: Magneto, as the project was left unfinished and postponed indefinitely.
Long before X-Men Origins: Wolverine made its way into theaters, another project in the prospective prequel anthology series was in development, titled X-Men Origins: Magneto. Once upon a time, the famed antagonist from the X-Men franchise was primed and ready to become an anti-hero in his prequel film, and the idea certainly holds water. Superhero fans almost universally consider the character one of the best comic book villains ever. He is an all-powerful force to be reckoned with despite having compelling and even justified reasons for doing what he does.
The first scene of the first X-Men film shows but a glimpse of the boy who would become Magneto. Before becoming a freedom fighter for all mutant-kind, Erik Lehnsherr was one of the millions of Jewish people who the Nazi Regime persecuted during World War II. The backdrop of one of the most significant acts of cruelty in human history fits perfectly with the X-Men IP, since the franchise has always been well-known for its commentary on social issues while still delivering quality action-adventure storylines. In that sequence, we see Lehnsherr being torn away from his family by Nazi soldiers. While he tries in vain to reach out to his parents, he discovers his incredible ability to control all manner of metal.
That specific sequence seemed to be the main inspiration for Up in the Air screenwriter Sheldon Turner to create a story for a Magneto prequel film. Turner described the project as The Pianist but set in the X-Men universe. Despite entering various stages of production, even attaching a director with David S. Goyer, the project would never see the light of day. Though the obvious answer for the project’s cancelation would be the less-than-desirable reception to a certain other movie with the word “Origins” in its title, the reasons behind X-Men Origins: Magneto‘s shelving may be a bit more complicated than you think.
Let’s Address the Wolverine in the Room
The X-Men Origins brand was supposed to kickstart a blossoming franchise, yet only one film was ever produced under the title. If one were to ask why that is, chances are anybody who has seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine can tell you why there aren’t more movies in the series.
For the lucky few X-Men fans who are blissfully unaware of the prequel’s existence, X-Men Origins: Wolverine does what the title implies by showing the long life of clawed mutant Logan Howlett (Hugh Jackman) before he found a new family in the X-Men. On paper, an origin story about Wolverine seems like a great idea. He’s the most popular member of the X-Men by a significant margin. His virtual immortality could be used to set up various stories in different periods. However, everything we ever really needed to know about Logan Howlett was revealed to audiences in X2: X-Men United, and the bare-bones story of X-Men Origins: Wolverine proved that there wasn’t really much else to explore in the character’s backstory.
Simply put, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is boring at best and frustrating at worst. Sure, there are redeeming qualities, such as Hugh Jackman still being a flawless choice for the title mutant and Liev Schrieber‘s decently menacing performance as Sabertooth. However, not even solid performances could save the film from bland action set-pieces, an entirely forgettable storyline, and surprisingly terrible special effects. Not to mention there’s the infamous and borderline meme-worthy butchering of one of Marvel’s most popular characters with the ridiculous live-action debut of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds).
Critics and audience seemed to agree that the Wolverine prequel was a misfire on all cylinders, but at least the movie would almost surely be a box office hit, right? Well…not really. Yes, the film doubled up on its $150 million budget at the worldwide box office, but it still greatly underperformed domestically and barely broke even. Thankfully Logan would later get his time to properly shine in his solo projects with the far more entertaining The Wolverine and the modern masterpiece that is Logan.
Ian McKellan Was Once Attached to Star in ‘X-Men Origins: Magneto’
While X-Men Origins: Wolverine took priority in production, X-Men Origins: Magneto was still in development and, at one time, even had original Magneto actor Ian McKellan on board to return to the role. The famed Lord of the Rings star famously has a great love for the character, and while McKellan would later get the chance to reprise the role in X-Men: Days of Future Past, his return for a solo project never came to fruition.
There are conflicting reports that McKellan would be digitally de-aged to play the younger version of himself. That could be the case for select flashback sequences, but it sounds like Turner’s initial idea for the script primarily occurred in World War II. Erik Lehnsherr would have been in his early twenties at most at the time, so it’s more than likely that the role of the younger Magneto would be recast instead of the then-67-year-old actor. McKellan would then later state in 2009 that he would not be returning to the project for that exact reason, saying he “probably” wouldn’t be involved but wouldn’t rule out a cameo appearance.
‘X-Men Origins: Magneto’ Was a Casualty of the 2007-2008 Writers Strike
The late 2000s were a tumultuous time for the film industry, particularly in 2007 and 2008 when the Writers Guild of America went on strike. While the screenwriters of the guild protested for fair compensation, the studios were left in a state of limbo on some ongoing projects, such as production on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen beginning filming without a finished script. The strike also heavily affected X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which began its principal photography without a finished screenplay.
The Writers Strike would be the main reason X-Men Origins: Magneto was canceled, getting the project indefinitely postponed and thrust into the darkest depths of development hell where it would remain for eternity.
Magneto Would Get His Origin Story Told in ‘X-Men: First Class’
With the proposed X-Men Origins franchise failing, it seemed for a while that we’d never get to see a proper origin story for Magneto, but thankfully, that idea found a new life in one of the best X-Men movies ever made: X-Men: First Class. Where X-Men Origins: Wolverine nearly killed 20th Century’s franchise, X-Men: First Class revived it, telling the story of several early team members rather than just one.
The film’s strongest element is the powerful and tragic story of Erik Lehnsherr, the younger version played by Michael Fassbender. We get to see his hatred of humans grow during his younger years in a German concentration camp and see his lifelong friendship/rivalry begin with Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), both of which were ideas from Turner’s original script that made their way into X-Men: First Class.
We may never know exactly what a film focusing solely on Magneto may have looked like, but at least we got to see the Master of Metal have his humble beginnings revealed in X-Men: First Class.
