12 Movies Where The Hero Became A Villain

8. X-Men: First Class

The Hero

Though X-Men movie fans were introduced to Magneto as an extremist mutant terrorist leader in Bryan Singer's movies (thanks to the genius of Sir Ian McKellen), Matthew Vaughn's nostalgic prequel, First Class, sought to change things up.

When we meet Erik, he's seeking vengeance against Nazis for the murder of his mother. He's wounded and emotionally scarred, but he hasn't lost touch with his morality entirely and joins Xavier's team to take down the Hellfire Club.

But Then...

As the film reaches its climax, Erik splinters away from Xavier and reveals that he too believes in mutant supremacy. He avenges his mother's death by killing Sebastian Shaw and then accidentally cripples Xavier, showing a flash of his humanity in his concern for his downed friend.

But thanks to the polluting impact of Shaw's ideology, Magneto is born as a villain and leaves the fledgling X-Men to form his own Brotherhood Of Mutants.