Enter Magneto
Encyclopedia
"Enter Magneto" is an episode
in the animated TV series X-Men Animated Series. This episode is loosely based on "Uncanny X-Men #1" (September 1963), where Magneto attacked the Cape Citadel missile base. The episode's title ("Enter Magneto") appears in various additional works involving the X-Men.
incarcerated for his actions in the last episode. As Beast reads Animal Farm
, he is mocked by the prison guards, who think that he is reading a picture book. The bigoted guards cannot fathom that Beast is literate. The prison, however, is soon under attack, and anything metal is twisted and torn: Enter Magneto.
Magneto
has come to rescue Beast, but Beast refuses to escape. He wants to prove his innocence at a public trial. Magneto and Beast debate the Mutant/Human conflict as the prison guards mount an attack against Magneto. Magneto destroys the small attackforce including their tanks and other armored vehicles.
In the X-Mansion
, Professor X
avier watches the video tape from the prison, and informs Jubilee of his past relationship with Magneto. He describes Magneto as an old friend that he met in an hospital, and how in the face of a brutal army, Magneto becomes convinced that peace between mutants and normal humans is not possible. Xavier was forced to stop Magneto then, and it appears that Xavier must stop Magneto again.
At Beast's bail hearing, Wolverine
and Cyclops
watch the proceeding from the back of the courtroom. Beast explains to the court that he is incarcerated because he was rescuing mistreated mutants. The enraged courtroom audience begins to shout at Beast. He borrows language from William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice
", thus comparing antisemitism to anti-mutant bigotry, and when he is denied bail, he is seen holding a copy of "Crime and Punishment
", by Fyodor Dostoevsky
.
As the guards escort Beast back to his cell, Sabretooth
watches as a prison guard shoves Beast to the ground, and demands that Beast be set free, prompting the guards to shoot Sabretooth with laser guns. Cyclops wants to aid Sabertooth before the guards inflict serious injury, but Wolverine refuses to help and warns everyone that Sabretooth can not be trusted; however, Cyclops brings Sabertooth to the Mansions' infirmary
anyway. Wolverine wants Sabertooth removed from the mansion, but Xavier refuses. Storm states that some people wanted Wolverine to leave when he first came, but that he was also allowed to stay. The argument is interrupted when an alarm indicates Magneto is attacking a military missile facility.
As the X-Men arrive on the scene, Magneto is preparing to launch nuclear missiles at strategic human targets in order to ensure the outbreak of a war between mutants and humans.
Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine face off with Magneto, but are unable to stop him. As Magneto leaves to prepare for the war, Storm is able to use her control over wind and lightning to cause the computers in the missiles to short-circuit, deactivating them and drop them into the water. Nevertheless, disabling the missiles demands too much from Storm's powers; she becomes unconscious and is caught just in time by Wolverine. Having prevented a nuclear war, the X-Men return to the mansion, having learned the full power of Magneto. Magneto on the other hand, ponders why Charles Xavier "turns on his own kind."
and Sabretooth
. Xavier's flashback is a toned down version of Magneto's origins. While it is clear that these events occurred during World War Two
, the Holocaust
and the Nazis
are depicted in subtext and generic army men. Future episodes, however, would be much less subtle (most likely due to extraordinary popularity of the first three episodes, which were aired as "demos" several months before the show was fully contracted). The events depicted in this episode (Magneto attacking an army base and hijacking missiles, then facing down the X-Men) are very similar to those depicted in the first X-Men story (X-Men #1).
sold two VHS tapes that featured "Night Of The Sentinels (Parts 1 & 2)" and "Enter Magneto"/"Deadly Reunions". Also contained were round-table discussions between prominent names such as X-Men creator Stan Lee
and 1990s writer Scott Lobdell
. The story of this episode was also adapted in the comic book "X-Men Adventures (vol 1) #3" released in January 1993
, much to the derisive pleasure of his mutant-hating guards. When Magneto comes to break him out of prison, he says "Magneto, I presume," which could be a reference to Henry Morton Stanley's
famous quote ""Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
. During his bail hearing, the Shakespearean speech Beast paraphrases is Shylock's "I am a Jew" speech from The Merchant of Venice
, replacing "Jew" with "mutant". When the judge denies bail, Beast sighs and says "Guess I'll have time to catch up on my Dostoevsky
". In the scene where Cyclops, Storm and Wolverine confront Magneto, he quotes Shakespeare
, this time quoting Miranda's line from act V, scene i of The Tempest
, 'O brave new world, That has such people in't!', then later paraphrasing Emiliano Zapata
, saying "Better that we die on our feet than live on our knees!"
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
in the animated TV series X-Men Animated Series. This episode is loosely based on "Uncanny X-Men #1" (September 1963), where Magneto attacked the Cape Citadel missile base. The episode's title ("Enter Magneto") appears in various additional works involving the X-Men.
Summary
"Enter Magneto" begins with BeastBeast (comics)
Beast , Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, is a comic book character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the mutant team of superheroes known as the X-Men...
incarcerated for his actions in the last episode. As Beast reads Animal Farm
Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
, he is mocked by the prison guards, who think that he is reading a picture book. The bigoted guards cannot fathom that Beast is literate. The prison, however, is soon under attack, and anything metal is twisted and torn: Enter Magneto.
Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
has come to rescue Beast, but Beast refuses to escape. He wants to prove his innocence at a public trial. Magneto and Beast debate the Mutant/Human conflict as the prison guards mount an attack against Magneto. Magneto destroys the small attackforce including their tanks and other armored vehicles.
In the X-Mansion
X-Mansion
In the fictional Marvel Comics universe, the X-Mansion is the common name for Professor Xavier's mansion. It is the base of operations and training site of the X-Men and the location of a school for mutant teenagers, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, formerly Xavier's School for Gifted...
, Professor X
Professor X
Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero known as the leader and founder of the X-Men....
avier watches the video tape from the prison, and informs Jubilee of his past relationship with Magneto. He describes Magneto as an old friend that he met in an hospital, and how in the face of a brutal army, Magneto becomes convinced that peace between mutants and normal humans is not possible. Xavier was forced to stop Magneto then, and it appears that Xavier must stop Magneto again.
At Beast's bail hearing, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
and Cyclops
Cyclops (comics)
Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
watch the proceeding from the back of the courtroom. Beast explains to the court that he is incarcerated because he was rescuing mistreated mutants. The enraged courtroom audience begins to shout at Beast. He borrows language from William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
", thus comparing antisemitism to anti-mutant bigotry, and when he is denied bail, he is seen holding a copy of "Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
", by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
.
As the guards escort Beast back to his cell, Sabretooth
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
watches as a prison guard shoves Beast to the ground, and demands that Beast be set free, prompting the guards to shoot Sabretooth with laser guns. Cyclops wants to aid Sabertooth before the guards inflict serious injury, but Wolverine refuses to help and warns everyone that Sabretooth can not be trusted; however, Cyclops brings Sabertooth to the Mansions' infirmary
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
anyway. Wolverine wants Sabertooth removed from the mansion, but Xavier refuses. Storm states that some people wanted Wolverine to leave when he first came, but that he was also allowed to stay. The argument is interrupted when an alarm indicates Magneto is attacking a military missile facility.
As the X-Men arrive on the scene, Magneto is preparing to launch nuclear missiles at strategic human targets in order to ensure the outbreak of a war between mutants and humans.
Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine face off with Magneto, but are unable to stop him. As Magneto leaves to prepare for the war, Storm is able to use her control over wind and lightning to cause the computers in the missiles to short-circuit, deactivating them and drop them into the water. Nevertheless, disabling the missiles demands too much from Storm's powers; she becomes unconscious and is caught just in time by Wolverine. Having prevented a nuclear war, the X-Men return to the mansion, having learned the full power of Magneto. Magneto on the other hand, ponders why Charles Xavier "turns on his own kind."
Production
This action-packed episode introduces MagnetoMagneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
and Sabretooth
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
. Xavier's flashback is a toned down version of Magneto's origins. While it is clear that these events occurred during World War Two
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
and the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
are depicted in subtext and generic army men. Future episodes, however, would be much less subtle (most likely due to extraordinary popularity of the first three episodes, which were aired as "demos" several months before the show was fully contracted). The events depicted in this episode (Magneto attacking an army base and hijacking missiles, then facing down the X-Men) are very similar to those depicted in the first X-Men story (X-Men #1).
Reception
At the height of the series' popularity, Pizza HutPizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
sold two VHS tapes that featured "Night Of The Sentinels (Parts 1 & 2)" and "Enter Magneto"/"Deadly Reunions". Also contained were round-table discussions between prominent names such as X-Men creator Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and 1990s writer Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell is an American comic book writer.-Early Career:Scott didn't begin to read comics until he was 17 years old, while lying in bed after lung surgery....
. The story of this episode was also adapted in the comic book "X-Men Adventures (vol 1) #3" released in January 1993
Cultural references
In the opening of the episode, Beast is in his cell, reading Animal FarmAnimal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
, much to the derisive pleasure of his mutant-hating guards. When Magneto comes to break him out of prison, he says "Magneto, I presume," which could be a reference to Henry Morton Stanley's
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
famous quote ""Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
. During his bail hearing, the Shakespearean speech Beast paraphrases is Shylock's "I am a Jew" speech from The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
, replacing "Jew" with "mutant". When the judge denies bail, Beast sighs and says "Guess I'll have time to catch up on my Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
". In the scene where Cyclops, Storm and Wolverine confront Magneto, he quotes Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, this time quoting Miranda's line from act V, scene i of The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, 'O brave new world, That has such people in't!', then later paraphrasing Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
, saying "Better that we die on our feet than live on our knees!"
Cast
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cedric Smith Cedric Smith (actor) Cedric Smith is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He played Alec King in the CBC television series Road to Avonlea and was the voice of Professor X in the X-Men TV series.-Music:... |
Professor Charles Xavier |
| Cathal J. Dodd Cathal J. Dodd Cathal J. Dodd is a voice actor who is best known for his portrayal of the Marvel comics character Wolverine in X-Men: The Animated Series, then reprisal of the role for X-Men: Mutant Academy, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, and the Marvel vs. Capcom series of video games. He has been... |
Wolverine Wolverine (comics) Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing... /Logan |
| Norm Spencer Norm Spencer Norman "Norm" Spencer is a Canadian voice actor, most notable for being the English voice of the X-Men character Cyclops throughout many incarnations of the character in the 1990s, including the X-Men cartoon show, several X-Men video games, and as the character in crossover episodes for other... |
Cyclops Cyclops (comics) Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes... /Scott Summers |
| Iona Morris Iona Morris Iona Marie Morris is daughter to actor Greg Morris and older sister to actor Phil Morris. She is primarily an American voice actress but has also performed numerous times on television in speaking roles. She was the original voice of Storm in the X-Men and Spider-Man animated series... |
Storm/Ororo Munroe |
| George Buza George Buza George Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the X-Men Animated Series.-Biography:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Canada as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. He appeared as Chief Jake McKenna multiple times in the TV series Honey, I... |
Beast Beast (comics) Beast , Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, is a comic book character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the mutant team of superheroes known as the X-Men... /Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy |
| Alyson Court Alyson Court Alyson Stephanie Court is a Canadian actress who first appeared in the 1985 children's film Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, and played summer camper Dawn in the animated film Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation the following year... |
Jubilee Jubilee (comics) Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men.A mutant, Jubilee had the superhuman power to generate "fireworks" of explosive plasma. A teenage "mall rat," she was the X-Men's youngest member in the early 1990s, often playing sidekick to... /Jubilation Lee |
| Len Carlson Len Carlson Len Carlson was a Canadian voice actor on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman during the 1970s and 1980s... |
Senator Robert Kelly Robert Kelly (comics) Robert Edward Kelly is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He most often appears in Marvel's X-Men and X-Men-related comic books. He is a prominent United States Senator who began his career on an anti-mutant platform, and as the X-Men team is made up entirely of mutants, his role... |
| David Hemblen David Hemblen David Hemblen is an English-born actor who frequently works in Canadian film, television and theater. He was a mainstay on the television series Earth: Final Conflict, playing Jonathan Doors, and played recurring roles in A Nero Wolfe Mystery and La Femme Nikita . He voiced Magneto on the popular... |
Magneto Magneto (comics) Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby... |
| Don Francks Don Francks Donald Harvey Francks or Iron Buffalo is a Canadian actor, vocalist and jazz musician.- Life and work :Francks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist... |
Sabretooth Sabretooth (comics) Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14... /Victor Creed |