Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for X-Men ‘97 Episode 8.
Is Magneto a freedom fighter or an insurgent? A realist revolutionary or a mutant sovereignty extremist? Since theX-Mencomics debuted in 1963, the team’s biggest antagonist has been written or labeled as all of the above. In the 1960s, the answer was obvious.Magneto was a prototypical villainto Charles Xavier’s classic hero. He sought tyrannical domination; he was ruthless and excessive. It wasn’t until 1975’sGiant-Size X-Menkicked off aseries of retcons that ambiguity complicated Magneto’s morality.A richer character resulted, one reimagined as a countercultural antihero.
In 2003’sNew X-Menrun,a phrase splashed in bold letters across a character’s t-shirt gained traction because it voiced what many already recognized as the truth: “Magneto was right.” Fans bought replica shirts. A website sprang up. It inspiredfuture arcsacknowledging that maybe the notion wasn’t just a radical leftist joke. It’s this arena of debateX-Men ‘97enters with its three-part finale. Episode 8, “Tolerance Is Extinction Part 1,” canonizes the words “Magneto was right” aloud. The statement — spoken by a human, no less —is a natural build for the oneX-Menadaptation that’s dared to state the brutal sociopolitical facts previous ones danced around. No incarnation of Magneto is above critique, but that’s not the point so much as a “yes, and”: yes, he’s flawed, and yes,Magneto has always been right about the world.
A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
Where Did ‘Magneto Was Right’ Come From?
The “Magneto was right” slogan first appeared inNew X-Menissue #135, written byGrant Morrisonand penciled byFrank Quitely. Quentin Quire, a rebellious punk student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, is protesting the Genosha massacre. Magneto,presumed dead in the attack, has become a martyr figure whose dreams of mutant freedom went unrealized.Quire’s shirt symbolizes a growing ideological division inside Charles Xavier’s schoolbetween those clinging to their headmaster’s pacifist dream and the ones finding solace in Magneto’s declarations.
The phrase’s enduring popularity, meanwhile,is a testament to howX-Men’s foundational allegories have grown more nuanced with time. Like many of the live-action films (though not all),X-Men: The Animated Serieskeeps its morality on a relatively straight track.Charles Xavier’s cry for peaceis the right path; end of discussion. Magneto’s desire to overthrow human tyranny isn’t misguided, but his methods leave enough to be desired. Of course, setting old friends and foils Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr against one another is as fundamental to theX-Menlegacy as its civil rights allegory. Even though they seek similar goals and love one another, their paths rarely align. Therein liesthe tragedy and dramatic conflict.
Unlikeits progenitors,X-Men ‘97doesn’t muddle its philosophy by trying to have it both ways. Magneto’s (Matthew Waterson) brief tenure as team leader lays the seeds for Episode 8’s fan-favorite argument. Only for Charles (Ross Marquand) and in his absence would Erik ever try to embrace Xavier’s doctrine. His lived experience knows it’s a fruitless endeavor. We know it, too. How can Erik’s demons let him rest when bigotry never rests? Still,the axiom struggle humanizes Magneto with the subtle dignity he deserves. It means something thathe snatches at growth despite knowing it to be fleeting.‘97’s thematic clarity rings clear as a bell, and as loud.
Magneto Knows Charles Xavier’s Dream Isn’t Realistic
Trying to have it both ways isCharles Xavier’s mistake. Undoubtedly, he pushes the status quo. He wants protection, prosperity, and justice for his people. More than that, Charles loves life itself; mutants, humans, aliens, animals, etc. That’s why he advocates for compassion. There was a time — for some — when his clear-cut, easily digestible idealism seemed like the logical goal for which to strive. But humanity’s cyclical violence proves that Xavier’s dream (one his privilege finances: the mansion, the equipment, working with the government)will always demand sacrifice from mutants. The banality of evil isn’t just the obvious incidents, it’s those apathetic pauses humans take when tragedy strikes others before moving on with their lives. It’sRoberto de Costa’s (Gui Agustini) mother hosting a “humans for Genosha” support gala filled with rich individuals and marked by excess. In Episode 7, she accepts Roberto’s mutation as long as it doesn’t disrupt her business image. She lets the Prime Sentinels imprison her son once he causes a scene in Episode 8, even though he does so because he’s running from his life. Appearances mattermore than blood.
Watch These Essential ‘Animated Series’ Episodes Before the ‘X-Men ‘97’ Finale
Creator Beau DeMayo listed six episodes from the original series to prepare for the season finale.
As a Jewish man and an Auschwitz survivor,Magneto has always known the extent of humanity’s evil. It’s seared into his soul and reopens his scars. His worst choices can’t be excused because he believes the ends warrant his ruthless means, and mutant supremacy isn’t the answer. Isolationismshouldn’tbe the answer, either, but Charles’s way requires concession and assimilation. Magneto, a selfless liberator full oftraumatized rage and justifiable vengeance, wants to give every mutant a haven free of malice, prejudice, and violence. His convictions are as steadfast as his refusal to compromise an inch. He’s willing to do whatever’s necessary to stop history from repeating itself,even though he knows nothing can stop the inevitable.
Human Hatred Is Inescapable in ‘X-Men ‘97’
Even when mutantkind reformed Genosha into a separate paradise, a different version of humanity destroyed it. Episode 8 reveals Bastion’s (Theo James) plan, titledOperation: Zero Tolerance. The answer is in the name; he doesn’t bother hiding it. A synthesis of human and Sentinel parts, Bastion gives humanity a leg up over mutants by converting human supremacists into Sentinel hybrids. He literally weaponizes hate. Let’s not forget that humans who feared extinction created the Sentinels to begin with.The machines designed to eradicate mutants became sentient enough to breed despotism into Bastion’s DNA. Humanity’s radicalized hate is so eternal, it reaches out from the future to strangle the past.
Bastion’s so-called future utopiadepends upon mutant subjugation. The Prime Sentinels, having regained the power of the majority, enslave every mutant they haven’t murdered.Mutants now exist to build a “better world” for everyone else. InX-Men ‘97’s current timeline, Hank McCoy (George Buza) wonders if the Genosha massacre is a fixed point in time. If it is, bigotry made it so. Whether it’s legal persecution like the Mutant Registration Act, hate groups labeling themselves theFriends of Humanity, or genocide,humanity will never overcome its worst impulses enough to reach the coexistencefor which Charles Xavier longs.This cartoon speaks the comic’s truthswithout batting an eyelid.
‘X-Men’s Magneto Has Always Been Right
Magneto opens Season 1 by pleading for humanity to let him change. That’s only possible if they reform their past sins. By Episode 8, Magneto survived the Genosha massacre only to be kidnapped by Bastion, humiliated, andsubjected to experiments. His silence is his defiance, a line in the sand he doesn’t cross until he releases a planet-wide EMP and one resolute word: “Enough.” In actuality, that says enough.Genosha’s destruction didn’t surprise him, and it didn’t surprise Valerie Cooper (Catherine Disher), the human United Nations liaison with whom he’s butted heads. She voices those three words that echoed throughX-Mencomics and fandom: “Magneto was right.” Few can argue.
Catherine Disher played Jean Grey inX-Men: The Animated Series.X-Men ‘97Season 1 showrunnerBeau DeMayorevealedto Entertainment Weeklywhy he wanted Disher to return as a different character: “To me, she was such the heart of the original series,to have her deliver the thesis felt right to me.” In the same piece, DeMayo agreed that although Charles Xavier’s “empathy is the way into the future,” he wanted topush the team somewhere new.
“I was thinking about what the world of the ’90s was like, even issues of social acceptance and what does it mean to be different? It was so much more simplistic than it is today. [The X-Men] spent years telling humanity to embrace the future, walk into the future together. What happens when they get hit with a future they didn’t see coming? What does it feel like to be on the other end when you feel like that future is leaving you behind?”
With Xavier now back on Earth, Season 1’s final two episodes might reignite the torch of his optimism.Empathy shouldn’t be surrendered in the real world or within this narrative. Hope and acceptance define the X-Men’s DNA. But just likeX-Men ‘97has matured alongside its adult audience, the truth about Magneto’s relevancy holds. If Valerie Cooper delivers the series’ thesis statement, that won’t be walked back. In 1963, Erik Lehnsherr began as a stock figure. In the hands of Jewish creators, he became many simultaneous things: flawed, noble, violent, grieving, anda revolutionary who recognizes and combats the world’s overriding truth.‘97lets him embody those qualities, try a different path, and declare war. We’ve known for a while that Magneto was right.X-Men ‘97finally said the quiet part out loud.
