After playing Superman in the DCEU, Henry Cavill gets pitched as the X-Men character Magneto for the upcoming reboot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Comics' Magneto standing behind Henry Cavill's Superman looking seriously

New Marvel Cinematic Universe fan art imagines Henry Cavill as the X-Men villain Magneto for the Marvel Studios reboot. With the character rights finally back at Marvel Studios, the MCU’s X-Men movie is on its way, as the iconic characters will finally get rebooted and imagined in the Avengers-based franchise. As there are multiple iconic characters that will have to get recast, the MCU audience is constantly bringing up various actors for certain X-Men roles.

While time will tell what X-Men characters will be introduced in the MCU, a former Superman actor has been brought up for one of the biggest roles in the mutant franchise. In new fan art that was shared by Comics Explained, Cavill was imagined as Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto.

This version of Magneto in the fan art is drawing similar elements from the version of Erik that is featured on the X-Men ’97 TV show. Magneto was previously played by Sir Ian McKellen in the original X-Men movies, while Michael Fassbender portrayed the younger version in the prequel films that were tied to previous installments.

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Henry Cavill as Superman in 2013's Man of Steel

While Cavill is a huge name in Hollywood and a talented actor, the former DCEU actor would potentially be a major miscast for the MCU, especially for the X-Men reboot. To begin with, Cavill is not Jewish, which is an essential element of Magneto’s characterization that will likely play a big factor in the upcoming reboot. While McKellen and Fassbender also aren’t Jewish, focus on representation has become more pronounced in the more recent history of superhero movies and shows, placing a closer spotlight on Marvel’s casting choices.

Another factor to take into consideration is that Cavill is only 40 years old and arguably looks younger than his actual age. With Magneto traditionally being older in most X-Men stories, which will likely be a similar direction for the MCU version, The Witcher actor would simply be too young to play Erik at this point without employing a needless retcon to justify the decision.

In general, there would be far more fitting roles for Cavill in the MCU if he and Marvel Studios ever collaborated in the future. If Marvel Studios wanted to cast him as an iconic mutant, Cavill would be a phenomenal fit as Cyclops, allowing him to still have a major role in the upcoming X-Men reboot. For now, time will tell when Marvel Studios will actually have updates on their new X-Men movie and how they plan to introduce these characters into the larger MCU.