Sebastian Shaw
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Characteristics and Powers: Sebastian Shaw has a mutant power that lets him absorb energy (mostly explosives and such). This keeps him young and expands his lifespan. I don’t know how old he is, but he can speak several languages and gained influence to get meetings with top-tier politicians and military officers. Reminds me of a Bond villain, especially with a submarine and ship. Usually you don’t see masterminds last this long, but I attribute it to having good henchmen (his “Hellfire Club”). He’s got one person who’s both telepathic and invulnerable, another who can teleport, and another who… blows really hard. Well, they can’t all be winners. And they’re all fine with his misogynist 1960s attitude, I guess.
Side note: Does it seem like the “earlier” a mutant was born, the more powerful they are? Emma Frost has two powers. Then there’s Apocalypse, Selene, Forever Man. Does the mutant gene get diluted as interbreeding goes on?
Relationship to the Hero(es): During Sebastian Shaw’s long life, he took a role as a Nazi doctor in 1944. Probably a fan of their eugenics policy. Whether he was looking for mutants, I’m not sure, but he found one–Erik Lehnsherr, a boy who demonstrates ferrokinesis when he’s separated from his parents. To push it further, Shaw threatens to kill his mother unless he moves a coin. When he doesn’t, Shaw follows through on his threat. Cut to the 60s, where Lehnsherr is on a path of revenge, tracking down all the Nazis leading up to Shaw. Shaw bats him down like a fly, but it brings Lehnsherr together with another powerful mutant–Charles Xavier.
Goals/Motivation: Shaw is using his political influence and money to stoke the fires of a World War between Russia and the U.S. (by fueling the Cuban Missile Crisis). To what end? So Shaw can take control of the world. Which means he’s just a BBEG. Mediocre. How did he get to this point? What motivates him to want to be a world ruler? He seems to have a superiority complex, but what mutant doesn’t? These X-Men villains are always like “We are the future of the human race,” but it’s not like we killed all the monkeys when we invented houses.
Relatability: Hardly. Sebastian and his Hellfire Club are all high-flying elitists. They get into the club without names and go right to the VIP room. His girlfriend can shit out diamonds and make him rich (is that how they make their money? Do they chip off part of her skin? Is this wealth by exfoliation?) And teleportation is a big factor when it comes to logistics. The guy doesn’t even care that he’s a subordinate.
Fun Factor: Shaw’s power hinges on being around explosions, and I don’t think that happens as much as one thinks. It’s more of a defensive power. And while it’s fun to stand in a room where people are shooting at you and laugh, it doesn’t exactly scratch the itch, if you know what I mean. I feel like Black Panther did this power better, where the more you smack him around, the more power he builds.
Fatal Flaw: Like most BBEGs, he has a big ego problem and thinks he can’t be defeated. This might be because he hasn’t had many encounters with mutants, as I don’t think they really start manifesting until the Civil Rights Movement. But one of his old projects comes back to seek vengeance, turning on his creator in a Frankenstein-like way.
Method of Defeat: Magneto confronts Shaw in the inner chamber of his submarine, then gets the crap beaten out of him. But Magneto manages to take Shaw’s anti-telepathy helmet off, letting Xavier freeze him in place. But Magento puts the helmet on himself, then takes the coin Shaw originally asked him to move and shoves it through his brain slowly and agonizingly. The scary thing is that Magneto agrees with everything Shaw is for. But Shaw killed his mother, so he has to die.
Final Rating: ★★
