Highlights
- Fox Studios teased the appearance of Mister Sinister multiple times in its X-Men movies, but never delivered on showing his physical appearance, leaving fans disappointed.
- Mister Sinister has a long history with the X-Men and mutantkind, with a particular obsession with Scott Summers and Jean Grey. He has the ability to shape-shift, see the future, and is a skilled surgeon and geneticist.
- Marvel could introduce Mister Sinister in the MCU as a formidable villain, offering a morally uncompromising character with ties to major mutant figures like Apocalypse and the potential to connect with Magneto.
Before the MCU, there was Fox's line of X-Men movies, which were hit and miss. After the success of the MCU, Fox pumped out more movies in hopes of ganering the same support. There was even a plan for an ultimate big bad that the studio made sure to tease in various films. The villain was Mister Sinister, who general audiences have no knowledge of but if the movies ever revealed the face of the mastermind, it would have paid off.
Sinister has a long and tumultuous relationship with the X-Men and mutantkind, becoming obsessed with Scott Summers and his love interest Jean Grey. As recently as January 2023, Mister Sinister played an important role in X-Men comics. While his live-action debut never came to fruition under Fox's purview, he can and should when the mutant population debuts in the MCU-proper.
Who is Nathanial Essex?
Created By | Chris Claremont |
|---|---|
First Appearance | The Uncanny X-Men #221 (1987) |
Species | Human mutate |
Powers | Shape-shifting, precognition, surgeon, geneticist, long life-span |
Fans of the comics and '90s X-Men animated series know all about Nathaniel Essex, a.k.a. Mister Sinister. He was a scientist inspired by Charles Darwin who grew up in London during the Victorian period. After discovering the existence of mutants and the X-gene, he became obsessed. The ancient mutant En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse) and Essex form an alliance and the mutant uses his celestial technology to mutate Nathanial, changing his appearance but also granting him a bevy of superpowers.
With his newfound life-span and powers, Mister Sinister devoted his time to creating clones in order to prolong his own life along with the creating powerful mutants and enlisting human agents that will eliminate his enemies. He was already passionate about genetic experimentation, being a nigh immortal mutate gave him all the time in the world to experiment. He eventually became obsessed with two founders of the X-Men, Cyclops and Jean Grey, as he believed he could use their DNA to create a powerful mutant that would be close to perfection.
None of the live-action appearances of mutants showed Sinister's physical appearance, but cinema never teased fans the appearance of a character more than Fox Studios did with Mister Sinister, showing his birth name in multiple films and having his agents work toward his goal.
Hints of Mister Sinister Throughout Fox Movies
Mister Sinister has been teased numerous times throughout Fox's X-Men movies, including Deadpool. In Deadpool 2, Firefist (Julian Dennison) finds himself in an orphanage called the "Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation," a foster home that specialized in containing young mutants. The post-credit scene from X-Men: Apocalypse shows men in black suits entering the Weapon X facility at Alkali Lake to secure a sample of Logan's blood in an Essex Corporation briefcase.
The Essex Corporation used that blood to clone Wolverine, resulting in the creation of X-23, aka Laura Kinney (Dafne Keen), in James Mangold's Logan. The most any audience got to see of the Essex Corporation at work, next to the Essex House in Deadpool 2, was 2020's The New Mutants. The heroes of the film receive guidance in using their powers from Dr. Cecilia Reyes who they believe is preparing them to join Professor Xavier and his X-Men. However, Dr. Reyes actually works for the Essex Corporation and the pin she wears is a diamond that looks eerily similar to the diamond on Mister Sinister's forehead.
Jon Hamm confirmed to Yahoo in 2022 that he had discussions about playing the maniacal Mister Sinister in a post-credit scene in The New Mutants, which the studio intended to spin-off a new trilogy that featured the character as the primary villain much like Magneto was for Bryan Singer's X-Men.
I never shot anything. I remember having a conversation with people: I’m a huge comic book fan, especially of the X-Men and The New Mutants , so I was excited to be considered. But these conversations happen and then life intervenes.
All that teasing only to never result in the appearance of the iconic villain let down fans, especially after the lackluster live-action debut of Apocalypse. Then again, it might have been for the best since the director and studio dropped the ball with En Sabah Nur.
Mister Sinister Could be Better Than Magneto
Magneto is a wonderful character who has been a nuisance for Professor Xavier and his X-Men since their inception. Ian McKellen brought the character to life and made him relatable, despite his genocidal means. As much as fans thought nobody could match McKellen's performance as Erik Lensherr, Michael Fassbender came pretty close. Marvel could undoubtedly find someone capable of playing such a complicated character again, especially with its track record for finding hidden gems in established actors. However, the studio doesn't need to use Magneto for its initial phase of mutant films.
Marvel has been pretty good about using villains who haven't received much screen time. Spider-Man: Homecoming could have resorted to reusing Green Goblin or Dr. Octopus again, but they chose to use the Vulture and the follow-up featured Mysterio, waiting until the third film in the trilogy to not only reuse the characters but bring the actors famous for those roles back. The studio could use Mister Sinister the same way, establishing a world of mutants unlike any audiences have seen before.
Magneto is great when the studio wants to weave a "two sides of the same coin" story to make audiences think. Fans already got something similar with Thanos as many around the world repeat the notion "Thanos was right." Sinister, on the other hand, is significantly less morally grey than either character and would give the MCU a hardline villain. Sinister lived through World War II and sided with the Nazis, working with them on mutant experimentations. The MCU needs a villain who the audience shouldn't/can't agree with and Mister Sinister is that villain.
He also has ties to major mutant characters such as Apocalypse, giving the studio an opening to properly introduce him in the MCU down the line. With Sinister's ties to the Nazi party, it wouldn't be hard to make a connection between him and Magneto either. Granted, 1940 was over 80 years ago, posing an age issue with Magneto's character. It wouldn't be difficult to modify his backstory a bit that keeps his Jewish roots and background of oppression intact.
