_X-Men_ and _X2: X-Men United_
Background
In the movie adaptations of the “X-Men” comic strip by Marvel, the focus is on race relations and the delivery is surprisingly mature for this genre of movies. A subspecies of humanity known as “mutants” has evolved, and human society becomes terrified of the powers mutants can wield. As a result they pass restrictive laws targeting mutants and relegating them to a status as second-class citizens.
One mutant, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, decides to fight back against this new discrimination. Known as Magneto for his absolute control over the powers of magnetism, he constructs a machine that will change regular humans into mutants and plans to use it at a gathering of world leaders. When the chief politicians suddenly become mutants, how can they pass laws against themselves? But though Magneto does not know it, his machine is flawed—its subjects die shortly after exposure. Magneto's old comrade, Professor Charles Xavier, sends his team of heroic “X-Men” to stop Magneto, and the mutant extremist is eventually captured in a plastic prison.
In the sequel, mutants are threatened by a military scientist who develops a way to destroy all the mutants on Earth. After losing a wife to a mutant son who made her go mad, Colonel William Stryker is merciless in his efforts to destroy the mutant species. The X-Men rush to stop him, aided by Magneto, who has escaped from prison. Magneto slips ahead of the X-Men and arrives at Stryker's machine before the heroes. Rather than disabling it, he reverses it to target all the humans. The X-Men save the day, but Magneto escapes as Stryker's base floods, drowning him in the process.
Analysis
The X-Men movies pull no punches in regard to race relations. The first episode even begins in a Nazi concentration camp. While Magneto does not originally plan to engage in genocide, perhaps Stryker's ambitions make him even more cynical. Magneto may also believe that Stryker's actions will eventually be repeated by another human extremist, and thus decides to strike first by eliminating the human race in self-defense. In either case, Stryker's machine is abomination, and suggests the darkest depths of hate that a human can feel for another race.
Stryker and Magneto represent the extreme sides of the issues. Xavier and the X-Men are the happy medium. Neither extreme can lead to a positive solution—bargaining with Stryker or Magneto is impossible. Therefore they must be marginalized, and cooler heads must prevail, or genocide will continue to plague the planet.