Pete Buttigieg on X-Men Magneto and Professor X: “I Don’t Think There Is Anything About the Role That Makes it White”
Pete Buttigieg, who is running for President of the United States, recently weighed in on the rumors that Marvel Studios are looking to recast Magneto and Professor X with black actors.
Buttigieg was asked by TMZ about the recent rumors and how he feels about diversity and inclusion in our stories when the roles are a traditional white role.
Buttigieg responded, “I don’t think there is anything about the role that makes it white.” He continued, “Look, certainly the actors who portrayed Magneto and Professor X in the past were brilliant, but it’s not because they were white. And it doesn’t have to be them forever.”
He then made a broad general statement on comic book films, “Look, one of the beauties of making comic books into movies is you can reimagine them constantly. And there is nothing intrinsically white about any of those character roles.” (Related: Eric July: Expect Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige to Tokenize X-Men’s Magneto and Professor X)
Buttigieg would then lump in James Bond along with Magneto and Professor X and comic book characters in general.
“Whether we are talking about James Bond or whether we are talking about comic books it makes sense for the portrayal of these characters to reflect the amazing cultural diversity of the country, our country, producing these films.”
He concluded, “I just care about whether it’s going to be good. I believe they are up to that in producing a new film and would love to see that kind of diversity.”
My guess is Pete Buttigieg has no clue who Magneto and Professor X are. Magneto is a Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was raised in Auschiwitz and one of the few to survive after the end of World War II. (Related: Eric July: “The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a F****** Joke When it Comes to this Diversity Bullshit”)
The trauma and horrors he suffered and witnessed in Auschwitz are woven into his story and is an integral part of just who Magneto is. Writer Chris Claremont makes it abundantly clear in Magneto #0.
As for Charles Xavier, he first appeared as a white man back in Uncanny X-Men #1 in 1963. He’s been portrayed as a white man in subsequent films and comics. Professor X is a white man. And no matter how much anyone wants to change that or believes it should be changed, you can’t erase history. (Related: Eric July: What Marvel Did to Monica Rambeau in Captain Marvel was Racist)
YouTuber The Amazing Lucas would also comment on the rumors saying, “We are talking about someone who was in the Holocaust. Y’all about to turn him black? Y’all about to change his whole origin story?”
He adds, “Do you want Marvel to go to the trash? Do you want Marvel to look like DC?” (Related: Eric July Rips CBR Writer Wanting to Change She-Hulk Origin)
He continues:
“I don’t get how black people aren’t offended by this. You telling me you have no characters, none. … You can’t even come up with black X-Men. Come on now. We have yet to get a good Storm. … Can we get a good Bishop? Something. How about you refine the characters you have right now before you start changing characters’ origins and ethnicities.”
He goes on, “If you are going to change something, you have to give me a reason that justifies the change. Diversity is not a reason because there is a plethora of black superhero characters that you can make movies with. That you can do.”
https://youtu.be/XiX7s8JrnwQ
What do you make of Pete Buttigieg’s comments regarding Professor X and Magneto? What about the Amazing Lucas’ comments? Do you think Magneto and Professor X should be portrayed by black actors?
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