It would be foolish to expect Marvel Studios to omit Charles Xavier and Magneto from the upcoming X-Men reboot entirely because the characters are so vital to the mythology, but it would be equally wise to veer as far away from how they were depicted in the Fox franchise as possible. Of course, they’ll need to retain their signature personality traits otherwise they won’t resemble the characters at all, but actively avoiding any scenes of them playing chess would be much welcomed.
Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are all fantastic actors that did great work in the respective roles over the course of two decades, and even though we won’t be seeing the mutants on the big screen again for a while yet, there’s already been plenty of speculation about who could end up leading the warring factions into battle in the MCU.
The latest name being linked to Magneto is an unexpected one, but could also turn out to be an inspired choice. Dan Stevens has plenty of history with the expanded X-Men universe having led Legion‘s acclaimed three seasons as David Haller, who’s ironically Professor X’s son in the comic books, but a new report now claims that he’s under consideration to play the Master of Magnetism.
At 38 years old, if Stevens is indeed in the running, then it looks as though Marvel are planning on skewing younger when it comes to the X-Men, although Fassbender had just turned 34 when First Class was released. In any case, the former Downton Abbey star has built up a solid reputation as a versatile talent in projects as diverse as action thriller The Guest, period-set horror Apostle and Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, and there’s no doubt he’d deliver an awesomely fresh spin on Magneto if handed the opportunity.