The Marvel Cinematic Universe is well-known by now for its use of classic hits on the soundtrack. From Guardians of the Galaxy's Awesome Mix Volume 1 and 2 to Black Widow's dramatic use of "Smells like Teen Spirit" to the opening notes of "Back in Black" in Iron Man, the franchise tends to convey a great deal of character, story and atmosphere through its use of classics on the score. But with all its classic 1970s rock, it's surprising that the franchise has yet to use Paul McCartney and Wings' "Magneto and the Titanium Man," a 1970s rock song actually about Marvel Comics -- and one that Stan the Man himself enjoyed.
"Magneto and the Titanium Man" appears on Venus and Mars, Wings' 1975 album, which sound-tracked part of their biggest tour. Captured onscreen in the concert movie Rockshow, the song was accompanied on stage by giant billboards of the titular characters behind the band as they rocked out to the quirky number. McCartney was a fan of Marvel Comics and considered them modern-day art, according to his memoir The Lyrics. The song details an adventure involving Magneto, the Titanium Man, and the Crimson Dynamo and a typical comic book fight involving them all.
How Paul McCartney Came To Write About Marvel
McCartney and Marvel are certainly no strangers -- Guardians of the Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon does, after all, take his name from The Beatles' 1968 White Album track "Rocky Raccoon" -- but this particular song is one of the few examples of a rock star writing and performing a song about a Marvel character long before the MCU took over the world and became known to most fans. Given that Wings was often fighting against an unreceptive public that wanted them to stick to Beatles tunes, it was a rather bold move at the time to make a song about a supposedly "uncool" concept like comic book characters part of a rock show.
The song did, however, meet with approval from an even more important source: Stan the Man himself, as well as Jack Kirby. In June 2000, in a "Stan's Soapbox" portion of Spider-Woman Vol. 3 #12, Lee himself confirmed he thought the song was "terrific." In 1975, while in LA for the Wings Over America tour, the McCartneys met Jack Kirby, who presented them with a line drawing he'd done of them in honor of the song. According to The Collected Jack Kirby, "Paul thanked Jack for keeping him from going bonkers while they were recording the album in Jamaica. It seems that there was very little to do there, and they needed to keep their kids entertained. Luckily, there was a store that sold comics, so Paul would go and pick up all the latest." This exposure to the comics soon inspired him to write "Magneto and the Titanium Man."
How 'Magneto and the Titanium Man' Could Feature in Future MCU Films
All of this approval from the Marvel higher-ups begs the question: Why hasn't this song appeared in a Marvel film yet? One reason could simply be that only one of the song's three characters has appeared in an MCU film before. It was the Crimson Dynamo, aka Anton Vanko, who was referenced in Iron Man 2 as being Whiplash's father. But now that the X-Men have made it into the MCU at last, surely there may be room for yet another excellent MCU soundtrack mashup, and this time, a theme song for the characters.
This little underground gem of classic rock crossing over with Marvel Comics definitely deserves more recognition. With approval from both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, McCartney's tribute to Marvel should at least make a cameo in a future MCU project, if not be a featured track in a future X-Men film. There aren't many rock and roll tracks that directly talk about Marvel Comics, especially not from the classic era, and since the McCartney-Marvel connection has yet to be name-checked in the MCU -- unless Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cares to use a snatch of Rocket's namesake song on the soundtrack -- the time could certainly be right to honor this wonderful little tribute.