While the X-Men prepare for their homecoming to the MCU with the film Deadpool and Wolverine, fans are excited for the return of the epic clash between the X-Men and Magneto. The character was one of the main antagonists of Fox Studio’s X-Men franchise and was played by Ian McKellan and Michael Fassbender in the films.
However, fans might have to wait longer as the popular antagonist may take a backseat to pave the way for another much-awaited villain. According to industry insiders, the character Mister Sinister is being eyed by Marvel to stand against the X-Men in their reboot. This would be the villain’s first live-action appearance, after being rumored to be included in Hugh Jackman’s Logan.
Marvel Rumored To Have Chosen Mister Sinister Over Magneto
With The Marvels, the presence of mutants in the MCU was officially confirmed, with Ms Marvel Kamala Khan being canonically established as a mutant. The upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine will also be introducing the X-Men into the MCU, with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reprising their roles from the Fox Studios franchise.
While fans wanted to see another face-off between the X-Men and Magneto, Marvel reportedly has other plans. According to industry insider and popular scooper Daniel Richtman, Marvel has been planning to set up Mister Sinister as the main antagonist of the X-Men reboot instead of Magneto. While there has been no confirmation, Richtman has a good track record of giving accurate scoops.
The X-Men have faced many foes in their storylines, with Magneto being the primary one. The best part about Magneto was the disconnect between his ideology and the means of establishing his ideology. Magneto fought against the oppression faced by mutants in human society much like Professor X and the X-Men. However, his means was to make a mutant-dominant society as opposed to co-existence.
However, the villain Mister Sinister has, for lack of a better word, more sinister tendencies with the concept of mutation. A genius genetic scientist and a fan of Charles Darwin, Mister Sinister a.k.a Nathaniel Essex collected bodies to experiment with mutation and entered into a deal with Apocalypse to get him the X-Men Jean Grey and Scott Summers
Essex becomes a supervillain after he loses his wife and unborn child, joining Apocalypse and being made immortal by his powers, and rechristening himself as Sinister. Sinister then betrays Apocalypse, but still remains a formidable foe to the X-Men (via Marvel).
Mister Sinister Was Almost Cast In Hugh Jackman’s Logan
If Daniel Richtman’s report is true and Marvel decides to set up Mister Sinister as the main antagonist of the X-Men, it would be the first live-action appearance of the character. The character has appeared in animated form in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Christopher Britton. Sinister also appeared on the shows Wolverine and the X-Men and M.O.D.O.K. Britton is set to reprise the role in the upcoming Disney Plus show X-Men ‘97.
While the character has been depicted in animated form and in video games such as Deadpool and X2: Wolverine’s Revenge, Mister Sinister was reportedly rumored to be a part of Hugh Jackman’s ‘final’ film in the franchise Logan. Directed by James Mangold, the film was set in the future with an aging Logan retired from his X-Man days.
The film was acclaimed for its setting and treatment and was also appreciated for being the perfect send-off for Jackman’s Wolverine as it was supposed to be his last appearance. Many rumors on who the antagonist of the film were being passed around before the release of the 2017 film, including Mister Sinister. However, the grounded treatment of the film did not allow for the character to be in the movie. Mangold told Cinema Blend,
“Now that you’ve seen some of the movie, I think [what] you get a better sense of is, that’s exactly the kind of thing this movie avoids. Meaning, the kind of operatic highly-costumed, stroboscopic villainy… that’s not in this movie. Everything is kind of as real as we can make it.”
The film ended up having Dr. Zander Rice and Daniel Peirce, representatives of Alkali-Transigen, as the main antagonists. The characters were played by Richard E Grant and Sandman star Boyd Holbrook respectively.
