Before Giancarlo Esposito landed the role of Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World, the actor best known for his roles in Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian, campaigned to be the next Professor Xavier in the X-Men film franchise.
I know a certain part of the internet is upset whenever they see anyone outside of a white man on their screen, especially in superhero movies. It is especially true if a character is race-swapped.
I don’t have a strong desire to see Xavier played by a Black actor, but after thinking about his history, I see several potential benefits.
The people who get unreasonably angry about a race-swapped character tend to hold animosity for seemingly frivolous things.
It does, however, show their lack of understanding. They will often say something like “What if they made Black Panther white?” Black Panther is characterized through his Blackness. It would fundamentally change the character. Furthermore, Black characters becoming progressively lighter is nothing new, especially in the world of comics.
Esposito also suggested Denzel Washington as the new Magneto. Magneto is one of the most important Jewish characters in superhero comics. He is shaped by the events of the Holocaust. Although they will likely try to update Magneto for a new audience, they should be respectful of the character’s history.
When deciding to race-swap, it is important to decide the most important traits of the character. What motivates the character? What do they see when they look in the mirror?
Ironically, for a long time, I argued Xavier’s whiteness was too important to the character.
Professor Xavier is a rich white man who received his money through an inheritance. He then used the money to start a private school in which he secretly trained child soldiers to accomplish his desires.
Even if we consider more generous reads, Xavier always thought he knew best. In his earliest comic appearances, he used his telepathic powers to change the minds of those who opposed him. He sometimes wiped memories completely.
It becomes more disturbing when we consider the breadth of diversity in the mutant community. The first group of X-Men were four white guys and Jean Grey, a character so powerful she couldn’t be ignored.
The team didn’t become more diverse until Xavier became desperate for help. He neglected mutants who would not enhance his army. He neglected mutants who couldn’t easily hide their differences.
Xavier famously encouraged Nightcrawler to hide his physical differences once he joined the team, something Nightcrawler didn’t do for long. Xavier also neglected the mutants who became known as the Morlocks because of their physical differences, a plot point that occasionally still comes up today.
I argued for Xavier’s whiteness because, despite his attempts at good, his privilege blinded him to so many in need. It made him dismiss the atrocities he felt necessary, like building a child army and wiping minds.
He lacks the moral standards we expect to see in traditional heroes.
Some of the most famous X-Men adaptations smooth out Xavier’s edges, but those rough edges make the character interesting. Combining these traits with a Black Xavier can create a complex commentary on Blackness.
I’ve discussed the mutant metaphor before here. In short, mutants represent minority groups. It is easy to see Jewish people created by Jewish writers in the sixties comics. Parallels with the LGBT community have always been there too, especially in recent times.
I’ve always connected with the mutants as a Black man. Obviously, the metaphor isn’t perfect, but it drew me to the comics, and it is the reason I still follow them.
When I was growing up, it was rare to see people in nerd culture who looked like me. Even though most of the characters were white, the X-Men stories just clicked.
This brings me to the first reason I wouldn’t mind seeing a Black Xavier. We have this metaphor about diversity, but most of the X-Men likely to make it to the big screen are white. There are a ton of diverse mutants I would love to see have a major role in the movies, but I’m also a realist.
Xavier being Black will at least allow more representation. I love for representation to be meaningful though, and Xavier’s change will be if presented the right way.
Some people still believe Xavier was modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and although this is an embellished rumor, it is an interesting starting point for the character.
Xavier does have the dream. He wants mutants to peacefully co-exist with humanity. His way of doing this, however, is by opposing more militant mutants from causing trouble for humanity.
“See humans, we aren’t bad like those mutants. We are the good ones.”
I’ve met many Black people who strived to prove they were one of the good ones. They were quick to separate themselves from Black people who didn’t fit the aesthetic and expectations necessary to be one of the good ones.
They hate Black fashion. They despise Black music. They don’t use enough lotion. They are afraid of the projects but comfortable in the trailer park.
Xavier is that guy.
Xavier is willing to sacrifice his own people to look good in the eyes of the majority. He is willing to hurt his own people to show how “good” he is.
This is apparent in the most recent era of X-Men comics. Xavier and the mutants finally gained some political power, but when faced with sacrificing his own people or some number of humans, he quickly gave in and used his powers to force mutants to their likely deaths.
I think of people like Candace Owens. She is an intelligent woman who understands Blackness in America and the political system. She uses her knowledge and charisma to garner the approval of her racist audience. To them, she is one of the good ones, and she is quick to throw Black people to the wolves to maintain her status.
“Juneteenth is ghetto and made up” is just one of Owens's many unprovoked attacks on the Black community.
Xavier as a Black man who wants desperately to be accepted by the mainstream is an interesting take. It can, of course, be pulled off by an actor of any race, but there is a special type of weight behind it if the actor is Black.
I don’t really care who they choose to play Xavier, but I hope we get a more comic accurate version of the character. I want to see the conflict and the nuance. I would love to see his good intentions called into question, if not by the characters in the movie, at least by some of the audience watching. If we can get complex characters who encourage critical thinking and discussion, I’ll be excited.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of LG Ware's work on Medium.
Comments
Leave a comment