An old friendship resurrected — Avengers: Doomsday teaser 3 reaction

Magneto, to me, is Marvel’s greatest villain of all time. Which is somewhat intriguing because Doomsday stars Victor Von Doom, who is many people’s choice for that position. Why Magneto over Doom? Story for another day.

But to give a bit of insight on why Magneto’s character is so dear and special to me, a lot of it revolves around his dynamic with Professor X. Mainly, it’s how a villain who’s the clear antithesis to the good guys of the story — in this case Xavier’s X-Men — can still gather so much sympathy and support. Magneto’s ideas and views on humanity are so distinct from Xavier’s, and even fear-invoking, yet you’ll find a large amount of human supporters for what he symbolizes.

This extremity is what has separated the former best-friendship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr. The few times that reunite them are the ones that threaten mutantkind as a whole, or the world itself. Desperate times call for desperate measures, paraphrased from the Greek philosopher Hippocrates. This was certainly the case in Days of Future Past (arguably the best ensemble X-Men movie).

One of the best examples is from the iconic graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. Magneto aligns with Charles when Reverend William Stryker threatens the mutant race altogether. After the menace is neutralized however, Magneto reverts to his opposition and asks Xavier to join him. Xavier almost folds and shakes his hand, until his pupils– the X-Men– reinforce the integration philosophy their mentor has gifted them. A bitter and perplexed Magneto, confused on why the X-Men would choose a pacifist route after the events of the book, flies away disappointed. “I have wept over many graves. I will not do so over yours” states the mutant who has seen far too much for one lifetime.

And so it is stamped. Even when an older Xavier may falter in his way, the school he has built will not. It symbolizes the crux of Xavier’s ideology, and it will always oppose the tragedy-struck Magneto. A former Holocaust survivor, Magneto’s Testament (from the 2009 graphic novel Magneto Testament) reveals that the boy was determined from childhood to “never let this happen again”.

The two schools of thought will almost always defy each other, it is duality personified.

Hence why seeing them reconcile and greet each other like old friends in the new teaser is a bit shocking, and heartwarming. Indeed, it is also danger-alerting. The size of this new threat, that forced Steve Rogers to pick up his shield one last time, brought Thor to his knees to pray to the All-Father for strength, has now reunited the bitterly opposed rivals. So much so, that Magneto even smiles when greeting Charles one last time.

On December 18, the X-Men will return. And with them, an old friendship that was buried long ago. To confront the threat that’s beyond the troubles of mutantkind, and may spell the end of the MCU reality as we know it.