There was a story before Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor X (James McAvoy) became archenemies and X-Men First Class shows the progression of how their relationship started.

In the early 1960’s during the Cold War, Charles Xavier, a mutant, met another mutant, Erik Lehnsherr. The two grew up in very different worlds. Together, the two unite and find other mutants who fight to save humanity as the world is terribly close to nuclear war, but an argument ensues between them that changes things forever.

Young Erik Lehnsherr, who is more familiar to us as Magneto, had witnessed his mother getting lost in the crowd at Auschwitz, where he learned that he could bend metal with his mind when he is angry. The head of the Nazi camp, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), brought Erik to his office and forced him to use his mutant power to bend a coin as he held his mother at gunpoint. When Erik failed, Shaw, who is also a mutant, shot her.

This triggers Erik to bend the metal helmets of the Nazi soldiers, which brought a smile to Shaw’s face, but Erik later became a Nazi hunter, with revenge on his mind.

Meanwhile, Xavier, another mutant who we recognize as Professor X, was studying genetics at Oxford University, which led to his career. Charles was “recruited” by the CIA when they needed the Professor’s knowledge of genetic mutation.

Both Erik and Charles were recruited to use their unique abilities to help stop nuclear destruction, but it was necessary to build a team to meet all of the needs.

In the end, the Russians and Americans are near to starting a war and the X-men finally went after Shaw and his goons. The mutant forces fought on a beach while Erik went directly after Shaw, the man who caused him a lifetime of grief and rage. When he returned, calling himself Magneto, he told the fellow mutants that humans were a danger to their kind and that they should be punished. This declaration created a rift between Erik and Charles, who believed that humans and mutants could live in harmony.

When Erik tried to manipulate the missiles to destroy humans, Moira (Rose Byrne), the CIA agent on the beach with them, tried to shoot him, but he used his powers to redirect that bullet and it hit Charles, paralyzing him.

As Charles lay in Erik’s arms, he proposed a safe haven for mutants, but Charles had a different view of the future. This prequel, while introducing several of the other mutants viewers are familiar with, also explains how Magneto and Professor X became archenemies and answers questions that had arisen in the series that started with X-Men in 2000.

The movie, which was released in 2011, received mixed review. It scored 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of their audience voters liked it. In Common Sense media, S. Jhoanna Robledo said, “This movie isn’t perfect, but it’s more fun to focus on what’s right: the brilliant casting, for starters, especially when it comes to McAvoy and Fassbender.” Parents at that site gave it three stars while kids over 12 gave it four. It is available with an HBO account, streamed on several other channels or on DVD through RedBox.