While it may come as a surprise to many Marvel fans, several superhero powers and features weren’t always taken from the comics. Apparently, there were times when the comics ripped things that were coined by movie and TV renditions of titular characters. One such example is Magneto’s iconic helmet that came with its powers.
24 years after the X-Men movie was released, writer David Hayter revealed how the idea of Magneto’s helmet-blocking telepathy was actually invented while filming. Although the character’s iconic helmet was a part of the comics, it initially didn’t have the telepathy-proof powers. It was discovered after director Bryan Singer was troubled by one compelling argument regarding Professor X’s powers.
X-Men Director Had Questions About Professor X’s Powers
Marvel’s X-Men series is certainly the franchise that kick-started the revival of superhero genres in 2000. Coming up with X-Men, which became a pivotal film in the superhero genre, the 2000’s movie about mutants found huge success among fans and critics. Later on, the long-standing X-Men franchise opened the door for the studio to come up with MCU.
While the X-Men is known for holding the legendary status for propelling the superhero genre, that’s not all that the film did. Apparently, Bryan Singer’s 2000 movie also invented a core part of Magneto’s identity that was later taken into the comics. 24 years after the film was released, writer David Hayter revealed how they invented the idea of Magneto’s iconic helmet-blocking telepathy.
This happened because the director said one day, “Why couldn’t Xavier just make Magneto go to sleep or something?”
No one had an answer.
So we decided it was the helmet.#XMen https://t.co/6Ggq3EURPR
— David Hayter (@DavidBHayter) January 17, 2024
Sharing a post via X, writer David Hayter noted how director Bryan Singer was bugged by one particular question while filming the movie. Having a compelling argument regarding Professor X’s powers, Singer wondered why Charles Xavier failed to make Magneto go to sleep. Surprisingly, no one on the set had a straight answer to the admittedly quite glaring question.
Magneto’s Telepathy-Blocking Helmet Was Invented While Filming X-Men
X-Men Writer David Hayter revealed how they discussed Professor X and Magneto’s powers while writing the script and even while filming. That’s when the question came up, and Bryan Singer began seeking answers. However, they failed to crack the code to how Magneto survived Professor X’s telepathic powers.
It was then that when nobody could come up with a straight answer to the glaring question, director Bryan Singer and his team decided to agree on the fact that Magneto’s helmet should be his countermeasure. That’s how the idea of the helmet-blocking telepathy was invented while filming X-Men.
Later on, after the film was released that revealed Magneto’s telepathy-blocking power remaining in his helmet, Mark Millar decided to adapt it as a core part of the character’s identity in Marvel Comics. Thereafter, the now-canonical Magneto trait was even featured in Cullen Bunn’s 2014 Magneto ongoing series.
