The discussion around Giancarlo Esposito started when X-Men: First Class writer Zack Stentz tweeted the following:

Esposito is a brilliant actor who could play nearly any role. But if you wanted to reimagine Magneto as a Tutsi survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide…he’d be pretty amazing. https://t.co/ovvzjTOKSM

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 5, 2019

Then the discussion really got some traction on The John Campea Show when you talked about the tweet. (Video at bottom of post).

The idea of updating Magneto/Erik Lenshar is a great idea. I’m in no way diminishing the horror that was the Holocaust, but that story has been beaten to death. Plus Jewish people are way better off than they were then. Include the failed attempts of FOX to actually portray and characterize the plight of mutants, the story needs a real adrenaline boost.

FOX never really hit the mark when it came to the suffering of mutants, which Stan Lee intended to be an allegory of marginalized people the World.

Now as far as what genocide to use as the backstory for Giancarlo’s version of Magneto is up for debate. However, I would NOT consider any genocide that took place in Africa. He simply would not be a good fit aesthetically. You know, not being African for starters.

Also, his background doesn’t necessarily have to be about a genocide that he escaped from. The story could have him involved or connected to some sort of genocide and seeing how humans treat each other, he uses his powers to protect mutants and also have a plan to wipe out the human race. The backstory doesn’t need to match Magneto’s original origin beat for beat. It just has to be something that shows Magneto’s true motivation. Something akin to Killmonger in Black Panther.

However this turns out, I hope Giancarlo at least gets a shot to audition for the role.