The long-awaited MCU X-Men debut is now right around the corner after Disney's recent acquisition of Fox and the rights to the X-Men film franchise. Marvel has already introduced a Professor X variant into the canonical MCU timeline, so it won't be long until the one and only Magneto appears in future MCU titles.
Despite Magneto's appearance in eight X-Men movies so far, the character has certain hidden superpowers, lesser-known attributes, and forgotten backstory elements absent from all his previous X-Men movie outings that could set up some incredible movies and shows going forwards if properly explored in the MCU.
He's A Polyglot
Due to Magneto's troubled upbringing and later escapades in his adult life, he has acquired the ability to speak several languages. His native language is German and thanks to his Jewish heritage he can also speak Yiddish and Hebrew. Later in life, Erik learned to speak English, French, Polish, Russian, Arabic, and Ukrainian fluently too.
Erik's bilingualism is an excellent trait with heartbreaking subtext that would explicitly show the villain's intelligence whilst also hinting at his truly tragic backstory, evoking both fear and sympathy from the audience if utilized well in live-action. His bilingualism could also create some unique chemistry with other speakers of these languages, for example, the Russian-speaking Red Guardian or even the German-speaking Red Skull.
He Can Astral Project
A long-forgotten power of Magneto that has never been utilized in any X-Men movies thus far is astral projection, the supernatural ability to assume the existence of another non-physical body that can traverse non-physical plains of existence.
Why Magneto can carry out this act is unclear but he has demonstrated in the past that this is one of his many obscure superpowers exclusive to the comics. This power could open the doors to encounters with many other MCU sorcerers such as Dr. Strange in the future or even allow Magneto to access the most remote MCU locations, such as Mount Wundagore or Ta-Lo.
He Can Turn Invisible
While Magneto may not be able to turn invisible in the traditional sense, he can use his control of the electromagnetic spectrum to distort the visible light around himself to essentially turn himself invisible. It is unsurprising that the character has never utilized this ability in any live-action movies before due to his love for dramatics.
However, he has demonstrated this ability a few times in the comics, adding to his large arsenal of superpowers never shown in past Fox movies. Considering the MCU hasn't showcased many invisible heroes thus far, MCU Magneto using this power would set this iteration of the character apart from any other MCU characters and previous live-action Magnetos.
He Has 'Wielded' Mjolnir
Mjolnir is one of the most exclusively used weapons in comic book history with only the most worthy being able to wield the weapon. However, in The Ultimates comic run, Magneto used his control of the electromagnetic spectrum to steal Mjolnir during a battle, later fighting the Ultimates and the X-Men simultaneously whilst 'wielding' the weapon.
Due to the film rights of Magneto and Thor being previously owned by two separate companies, the characters have never interacted on the big screen, nevermind had an interaction as intense as this meaning only comic readers have been subject to such a battle. A battle between Thor and Magneto would be unlike any other fight featured in a Marvel film previously, so Marvel has an excellent opportunity to blow the audience's minds if these two characters were to ever meet on screen, especially if Magneto was to also wield Mjolnir.
He Has Several Superpowered Children
Despite being preoccupied with his reign of supervillainy, Magneto has found the time to spawn 5 superpowered children in a plethora of different universes. Although this topic is regularly debated due to constant retcons, Magneto is often portrayed as the father of Quicksilver, The Scarlet Witch, and Polaris. Alongside these three big names, Magneto has a daughter named Plague on Earth 1043 and a son named Magnus on Earth 27.
Magneto's family tree and connections with each of these heroes have never truly been expanded upon on-screen, giving the MCU a prime opportunity to explore a storyline where Erik is the father to at least one of these mutants, distinguishing him from previous Fox Magnetos and even other MCU villains. However, for now, these obscure relationships stay confined only to the pages.
He Led Genosha
Genosha is an island nation that spiraled into a pit of despair after it saw a civil war between humans and mutant slaves. Although Magneto was allowed to become the leader of the country and eventually turned it into a paradise for mutant-kind, the nation soon fell after a full-blown Sentinal attack annihilated the whole city.
Genosha has been previously featured as a base of operations for the Brotherhood in several X-Men movies, however, Magneto's relationship with Genosha has never been fully fleshed out like in the comics, meaning Marvel has an excellent opportunity to explore Genosha's tragic tale to a further extent. Covering its civil war, Magneto's rise to power and its downfall would be an excellent way to explore previously used locations without treading old ground and show an unexplored side of Magneto
He Had A Clone
After leaving the Brotherhood of Mutants, the mutant Astra was both fascinated by and vengeful towards Magneto. Her fascination eventually led to her successfully creating a sophisticated clone of Erik, named Joseph, who was intended to be stronger and less merciful than Magneto. Joseph went on to The X-Men and eventually sacrificed his life to defeat Magneto.
Although slightly ridiculous, introducing Joseph to the MCU would be a breath of fresh air compared to every X-Men movie thus far. It is safe to say Marvel has never attempted a storyline like this on the big screen, so having Joseph fight alongside the X-Men to defeat the original Magneto would be something fun and unexpected to feature in future movies, ensuring MCU phases live up to the originality and adventurous tones of its early movies.
He Has A Relationship With Rogue
Magneto and Rogue have a peculiar relationship in the comics that was sparked when they fought Zaladane in the savage land. After Magneto returned from his apparent death and crashed Illyana Rasputin's funeral, Rogue attacked him with a kiss in an unsuccessful attempt to steal his powers. Rogue later had a brief relationship with Magneto's clone and has had two children with Magneto, Magnus and Plague, in alternate universes.
If featured in a future X-Men movie, this relationship could lead to an interesting twist and cause believable conflict between these two characters and their respective teams. The MCU has had several villains become heroes but it is not often an established hero who turns to the dark side. Introducing this relationship to the MCU would make the universe and its character seem more dynamic by having its villains and heroes interact with one another in unexpected ways.
He Has Several Superpowered Grandchildren
Magneto not only has children in the comics but grandchildren too. The first is Quicksilver's Inhuman daughter Luna, The second is Polaris' mutant son Pavel Rasputin and the last are Nocturne, Wiccan, and Speed, the children of The Scarlet Witch.
Although it's unlikely Wiccan and Speed will be MCU Magneto's grandkids, there is always room for Nocturne, Luna, and Pavel Rasputin in the cinematic universe. Introducing even one grandchild to Magneto's character arc would add more humanity to the character whilst simultaneously increasing his drive to make mutants the dominant species, as he will have a family of his own to protect. This would in turn make the audience more sympathetic to the villain but also a lot more afraid of the lengths he will go to ensure mutant safety.
He Is Nightcrawler's Father In Law
Nightcrawler was briefly Magneto's son-in-law when Nightcrawler and The Scarlet Witch had a child named Nocturne together on Earth-2182. Although this occurred in an alternate reality, Nocturne has ed the main-616 timeline due to her time as a member of the timeline traveling Exiles.
These events have never happened in an X-Men movie before and may not occur on screen ever in the future, however, this type of family conflict would not only challenge the MCU with its tones and writing going forwards but also play to its strengths by creating some hilarious, awkward encounters between the three characters.