May 2, 2019

X-Men: Simon Kinberg’s ‘Dark Phoenix’ Will Have Intriguing Post-Holocaust Parallels

Far and away, the most interesting X-Men character in the live-action films from 20th Century Fox (at least for me) has always been Magneto, first played by Ian McKellen and then by Michael Fassbender. As if to back up that claim, the entire Marvel mutant film franchise begins with his origin story as a persecuted Jew during the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe.

After years of suffering, the character will finally found Genosha, a mutant-inhabited country/haven ripped straight from the comics, in June’s Dark Phoenix. Speaking to Empire Magazine for the publication’s June issue, the movie’s writer/director, Simon Kinberg (a MoT himself), compared Genosha to the creation of Israel in May of 1948.

“It’s sort of Oz for mutants,” he said. “As a Jew, its parallels to Israel and the notion of the promised land intrigued me, even as a kid. I was looking in previous X-Men movies for a way to incorporate it. It was something I thought about for Apocalypse, but then went in a very different direction.”

Kinberg—who has long produced/written the X-Men movies and makes his directorial debut with Dark Phoenix—uses Magneto’s personal journey as a fascinating allegory for the Jews of post-World War II Europe. With their towns destroyed, their homes usurped, and their families murdered, these refugees had nowhere to go until Israel was officially recognized as the Jewish State by the United Nations three years after Nazi, Germany surrendered to the Allies.

Finally, here was a place where Jews could be Jews; finally, they needn’t fear utter annihilation from those that governed them and if necessary, they would strike back against those who would wish to do them harm. Never again would the Jewish people be the punching bag and scapegoat for someone else; never again would they be led like lambs to the slaughter.

This is the sentiment shared by Mangeto near the end of X-Men: First Class when Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) tries to stop his friend from destroying U.S. and Soviet warships by stating that the marines aboard both are “just following orders.” In one of the most badass lines of the entire franchise, Erik calmly responds with: “I’ve been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again.”

Having known prejudice and oppression for most of his life, Magneto knows that the words “just following orders” aren’t a blanket excuse to commit atrocities in the name of a country or an ideology. In our own history, that was the feeble alibi given by Nazi war criminals put on trial after the war. If everyone was just following orders, a mere cog in the machine, then where in the world were all of the guilty parties?

Born as Erik Lehnsherr to a German-Jewish family, Magneto discovered his mutation to control/manipulate any and all metal when the Nazis separated him from his parents at the Auschwitz concentration camp. That power was refined and strengthened when the sadistic Dr. Klaus Schmidt (later known as Sebastian Shaw, founder of the Hellfire Club) murdered Erik’s mother in cold blood. After the war ended, he hunted down one Nazi after another, looking for Schmidt, finally killing the evil doctor on the beaches of Cuba.

Years later, Erik settled in Poland, married, and had a young daughter, but both of them were killed by humans after they learned of his true identity. Having lost his family for the second time in his life, Erik was persuaded to join Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), who encouraged Magneto to destroy Auschwitz via his overwhelming rage and grief.

All in all, the founding of Genosha in Dark Phoenix feels like the ultimate culmination of Magneto’s tragic journey, especially since this will be one of the last X-Men movies under the Fox banner before the characters join the MCU. With Yom HaShoa currently upon us, the parallel to the creation of Israel is an embracement of the themes that the X-Men have always stood for: prejudice, racism, disenfranchisement, and acceptance. Knowing that he and any other mutant out there would never be safe under any rule but their own, Magneto—tired of so much bloodshed—finally took matters into his own hands and created a promised land for his people.

In other words, Erik Lehnsherr is the mutant equivalent of David Ben Gurion. Now, that’s pretty freakin’ cool.

Dark Phoenix opens in theaters everywhere Friday, June 7. Fassbender will be reprising his role as Erik.