Goyer to helm "Magneto"

David Goyer is set to direct "Magneto," an "X-Men" spinoff film that will tell the origin of the master of magnetism.

Variety's Michael Fleming has the details, but the most interesting may be the plot dexcription, which begins with Magneto in Auschwitz and meeting Charles Xavier, who is a soldier with the American forces that liberate the camp. Magneto uses his powers to hunt down Nazi war criminals, bringing him into conflict with Xavier. This jibes with the facts established in 'X-Men," where Xavier says he was only 17 years old when he first met Magneto. Their split, however, was fairly recent as they were still friends in the opening flashback of "X-Men: The Last Stand," which was set 20 years ago.

This differs from the comic book version of the characters' comicbook history, which shows Magneto as much older than his friend the professor. In the early X-Men comics, Xavier was shown as having fought in Korea and not meeting Magneto until after that war at a psychiatric hospital in Israel where they both assist Holocaust survivors. Magneto did spend time hunting down Nazi war criminals, as seen in a few backup stories from Marvel's old "Classic X-Men" series in the late 1980s.

Ian McKellen, who played Magneto in the "X-Men" trilogy, likely will have some part to play in the spinoff, though Fleming says that actors in their 20s will be cast as Magneto and Xavier for the bulk of the movie.

Goyer will be working from and revising a script by Sheldon Turner. Goyer has written comicbooks for DC and for Marvel. He scripted all three "Blade" movies for Marvel, directing the third film in the series. He also co-wrote "Batman Begins" and directed "The Invisible," which will be released this weekend.

Pic is the second planned "X-Men" spinoff, with Hugh Jackman set to produce and star in a solo movie for "Wolverine," for which a director is expected to be announced shortly.