About
“Peace Was Never An Option” is a memorable quote spoken by the fictional character Erik Lehnsherr, better known as the villain Magneto, as played by Michael Fassbender in the movie X-Men: First Class.
Origin
On February 10, 2011, 20th Century Fox released the first trailer for X-Men: First Class, which was viewed over 15 million times on YouTube.[1]
Toward the end of the trailer, the following piece of dialogue is spoken:
Charles Xavier: Listen to me very carefully, my friend: killing Shaw will not bring you peace.Erik Lehnsherr: Peace was never an option.
Spread
The line, as well as Fassbender’s overall performance, were considered by critics to be one of the strong points of First Class; in an article on the popular blog Comics Alliance, David Brothers considered the line to be a crucial key to understanding Magneto’s character in the film.[4] The line is a quote often used by fans when making references to Magneto.
The first use as a caption for an image macro happened two years after the release. An image of a cockatiel atop a tank toy captioned with the line was posted to the meme aggregator MemeCenter in 2013, where it gained over 3,000 likes.[3]
Notable Examples
h2. Search Interest
Note: The rise in late 2013 is due to the release of an album of the same name by the metal band Man Must Die.[2]
External References
[1]YouTube – X-Men: First Class – Official Trailer
[2]Encyclopaedia Mettalum – Man Must Die – Peace Was Never An Option
[3]MemeCenter – Peace Was Never An Option
[4]Comics Alliance – The Best and Worst of ‘X-Men: First Class’ -- Moral Complexity and Depressing Racial Politics
[5]Tumblr – "Search: peace was never an option