Is Ian McKellen right - have the X-Men films been pronouncing Magneto's name wrong all this time? The arch-villain of the X-Men franchise, Magneto was one of the most famous comic book villains even before making the jump to live-action, but when Ian McKellen debuted in 2000's X-Men movie, the character's legendary status was cemented. McKellen featured in the original X-Men trilogy before the role passed to Michael Fassbender, but the two actors would appear together in Days of Future Past. After his Hollywood exploits, Magneto became a household name across the world... that's "Magneeto," as the villain is consistently referred to throughout the movie franchise.
McKellen has now upended the entire X-Men fandom by questioning whether his character's name should be pronounced "Magnet-oh" instead. In a recent Twitter post, the British actor asked why a supervillain whose power revolves exclusively around MAGNETism would be known as "Magneeto" rather than "Magnet-oh." The question certainly generated debate, and as the world continues to work from home and transition through various stages of lockdown, what better time is there to ponder why the X-Men movies pronounce Magneto's name the way they do, and which pronunciation is accurate?
Taking Magneto back to his source, Stan Lee maintained for decades that he was undecided on which version was correct, proving the Magneeto/Magnet-oh debate has been raging for a very long time. In the comic medium, fans can decide for themselves how the word should be read, and Magneto's name was seldom spoken out-loud in the public domain. A scarcely recognizable, superpower-free version of Magneto appeared in the 1960s animated Spider-Man series (the one with all the memes), and this character's name was pronounced "Magnet-oh." But when a more authentic interpretation appeared in 1978's Fantastic Four cartoon, the name was flipped to the more familiar "Magneeto," which has remained in place ever since. Through the classic 1990s X-Men cartoon, the 2000s movies, and everything in between, "Magneeto" has gone unchallenged since that 1970s debut.
The decision to side with one pronunciation over the other is, weirdly, all Paul McCartney's fault. Fresh from The Beatles, McCartney started a new band known as Wings, who released "Magneto & The Titanium Man" in 1975 - a song directly inspired by Marvel's comic books. When McCartney sang "well, I was talking last night, Magneto & the Titanium man," he boldly opted for the "Magneeto" pronunciation, predating the Fantastic Four TV show by a full 3 years. Every subsequent iteration has followed suit. Considering Stan Lee remained on the fence, Paul McCartney appears to have been the deciding factor in how to say Magneto's name - and who's going to argue with a Beatle?
Officially, there is no absolute "right" way to pronounce Magneto. Each version of the character, whether in live-action, animated or comic form, can define its own reading of the word within that specific universe. In the real world, however, "Magneeto" is so deeply ingrained within the cultural consciousness, the villain's pronunciation is unlikely to change at this point. Curiously, the debate around Magneto's name is only part of the X-Men lexicon-fusion. Just as it makes more sense to use Ian McKellen's suggestion of "Magnet-oh," so should Charles Xavier's surname be read as "Zavier" rather than "X-avier." The MCU has an opportunity to change these potential mispronunciations - but it'll likely maintain the status quo.