The announcement about Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine coming to Deadpool 3 was one of the biggest highlights of last year for Marvel fans. Ever since then, there has been tons of speculation boiling up about how various other characters from the Fox universe could slowly be introduced to the MCU. And it looks like one of the most epic mutants from the Fox universe might just drop by in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Ian McKellen as Magneto
Erik Lehnsherr, aka, Magneto, the deadly antagonist-turned-superhero, has been a prominent part of the X-Men universe from the very beginning of the film series. The first time fans saw the formidable mutant was back in 2000 with his last appearance being in X-Men: Dark Phoenix which premiered in 2019. But maybe Magneto’s journey hasn’t come to an end just yet as rumors claim that the master of magnetism might just feature in Secret Wars.
X-Men Mutant Magneto is Rumored to Appear in Secret Wars
Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants in the entirety of the X-Men universe. With the ability to manipulate all sorts of magnetism, Erik Lehnsherr is an indefatigable force to reckon with. Created by Stan Lee along with Jack Kirby, his character has appeared as a supervillain during multiple instances during the X-Men series.
In Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Magneto was seen to have been injected with a serum that served as a “cure” for mutants. As a result, he was believed to have lost his superhuman powers of metal manipulation. However, he eventually gained his powers back in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Fast forward to Dark Phoenix, the only X-Men movie in the franchise’s history that had the most underwhelming opening weekend ever possible. Once again we see Magneto in the 2019 living peacefully on an island named Genosha which happens to be a safe haven for mutants. That was the last of the intimidating mutant to be seen in the X-Men universe since his role was never expanded in any of the Wolverine projects.
Michael Fassbender’s Magneto
Now, Marvel is reportedly set to bring back Magneto in the final move of Phase 6, Avengers: Secret Wars. While these rumors are unchecked at best, there does seem to be a possibility for X-Men characters reprising their roles in not just Secret Wars but other upcoming MCU films as well.
Disney’s acquisition of the X-Men characters in 2019 has finally started to evolve into action with Hugh Jackman‘s Logan already set to be a part of Shawn Levy’s Deadpool 3. And Kevin Feige has hinted it on more than one occassion that Secret Wars is going to be the ultimate MCU film reuniting tons of iconic superheroes. There is also speculation that the Marvel president is planning on surpassing the portal scene from Endgame in the 2026 film; should that be the case, Magneto could very well be a part of Secret Wars as his character gets dragged across a different dimension to fight what is anticipated to be the biggest multidimensional battle in the history of Marvel.
How Fans Are Reacting to Magneto’s Reported Feature in Secret Wars
Throughout the X-Men franchise, Ian McKellen’s portrayal of Erik Lehnsherr has been hailed the most. But while he played the character in the first three movies of the series, the role was soon taken over by Michael Fassbender who then went on to depict Magneto in the other four films that followed with X-Men: First Class (2011) being his first one.
Now that rumors are filtering in about Magneto coming to Secret Wars, fans are both eager with excitement as well as weary about this new development, mainly because they are more keen on seeing McKellen’s Magneto rather than Fassbender’s.
While these rumors are yet to be verified, should it be true, there’s no way of saying whether McKellen would reprise the role as Magneto or if Fassbender would make a comeback instead. But Secret Wars is still three years away from its release and if the former’s age is a weighing factor, then it’s likely that Fassbender could return as the mutant.
Avengers: Secret Wars is set to premiere on May 1, 2026.
source: fandomwire.com