History Headscratchers / XMenTheLastStand

** Because Magneto, believe it or not, is not a ChaoticEvil CompleteMonster. His morality is based on what he deems to be NecessarilyEvil [[WellIntentionedExtremist in order to preserve the Mutant Race]]. In the first movie, his whole plan was converting the world leaders into Mutants so they would be forced to accept Mutants or get registered and persecuted just like them; if not for the fact that it risks killing them like it does Kelly and would definitely kill Rogue, it could hardly be considered a true villainous act. The sole reason he picked Rogue is because he found out he couldn't use the machine without dying; a selfish act of self-preservation, yes, but also done so the Brotherhood wouldn't lose its leader and Magneto could continue defending Mutants. In the second movie, Stryker tortured Magneto to create the Dark Cerebro to exterminate all Mutants immediately, so obviously Magneto retaliated on the same coin when given the chance; he clearly could have built his own Dark Cerebro and attempted to control Xavier or find another Telepath to carry out such a plan (just like with the machine from the first movie), but he never did because it likely was too much of a MoralEventHorizon even for him before Stryker tried it. The third movie, Magneto was reacting to the current reality that humans now have the means to remove Mutant powers and are calling it a "Cure" (as in, they consider Mutation to be some kind of disease instead of natural evolution). Mystique getting shot with the weaponized Cure is basically the confirmation of his beliefs and validation he wanted to rally Mutants to fight against it. Most of time, Magneto DOESN'T want to enact a full-blown Holocaust against humanity. He would rather just subjugate humans and make Mutants the dominant power to ensure their survival or turn all humans into Mutants. So while he obviously will see human politicians, military and anti-Mutant movements as his enemies, [[NeverHurtAnInnocent he reasonably wouldn't assault random civilians like the family inside the car at the bridge]]; he locked the car with a look that's basically saying ''"You're just civilians caught up in the crossfire, so I'm going to spare you. Stay there quietly until we walk past you and you won't be harmed"''. While the Brotherhood of Mutants often has [[PsychoForHire troublemakers and psychos]] like Sabertooth that brutalize and harm Muggles ForTheEvulz, Magneto himself is often portrayed as detached and only focusing his violence on actual threats like Kelly, Stryker or Warrington; attacking common citizens who aren't opposing humans is probably [[EvenEvilHasStandards immoral]] and [[PragmaticVillainy impractical where he's concerned.]] He obviously doesn't care about collateral damage, but he's also not going out of his way to maximize human casualties like En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse would. Conclusion: Magneto is as evil as [[DependingOnTheArtist the plot and/or writer demands]], or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo as Magneto believes he should be in any given situation]].

** Because Magneto, believe it or not, is not a ChaoticEvil CompleteMonster. His morality is based on what he deems to be NecessarilyEvil [[WellIntentionedExtremist in order to preserve the Mutant Race]]. In the first movie, his whole plan was converting the world leaders into Mutants so they would be forced to accept Mutants or get registered and persecuted just like them; if not for the fact that it risks killing them like it does Kelly and would definitely kill Rogue, it could hardly be considered a true villainous act. The sole reason he picked Rogue is because he found out he couldn't use the machine without dying; a selfish act of self-preservation, yes, but also done so the Brotherhood wouldn't lose its leader and Magneto could continue defending Mutants. In the second movie, Stryker tortured Magneto to create the Dark Cerebro to exterminate all Mutants immediately, so obviously Magneto retaliated on the same coin when given the chance; he clearly could have built his own Dark Cerebro and attempted to control Xavier or find another Telepath to carry out such a plan (just like with the machine from the first movie), but he never did because it likely was too much of a MoralEventHorizon even for him before Stryker tried it. The third movie, Magneto was reacting to the current reality that humans now have the means to remove Mutant powers and are calling it a "Cure" (as in, they consider Mutation to be some kind of disease instead of natural evolution). Mystique getting shot with the weaponized Cure is basically the confirmation of his beliefs and validation he wanted to rally Mutants to fight against it. Most of time, Magneto DOESN'T want to enact a full-blown Holocaust against humanity. He would rather just subjugate humans and make Mutants the dominant power to ensure their survival or turn all humans into Mutants. So while he obviously will see human politicians, military and anti-Mutant movements as his enemies, [[WouldntHurtAnInnocent he reasonably wouldn't assault random civilians like the family inside the car at the bridge]]; he locked the car with a look that's basically saying "You're just civilians caught up in the crossfire, so I'm going to spare you. Stay there quietly until we walk past you and you won't be harmed". While the Brotherhood of Mutants often has [[PsychoForHire thugs and psychos]] like Sabertooth that brutalize and harm Muggles ForTheEvulz, Magneto himself is often portrayed as detached and only focusing his violence on actual threats like Kelly, Stryker or Warrington; attacking common citizens who aren't opposing humans is probably immoral and impractical where he's concerned. He obviously doesn't care about collateral damage, but he's also not going out of his way to maximize human casualties like En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse would. Conclusion: Magneto is as evil as the plot and/or writer demands, or as Magneto believes he should be in any given situation.

*** Ask Wiki/TheOtherWiki (though it's gone now, so maybe it got flagged as unsourced). I accounted for both possibilities, so it's really beside the point.