Magneto (comics)
Magneto (real name unknown, alias
Erik Magnus Lehnsherr) is a
Marvel Comics character, and a regular adversary of the
X-Men. He first appeared in
X-Men #1 (
September 1963) and was created by writer
Stan Lee and artist/co-writer
Jack Kirby, though it was subsequent
X-Men writer
Chris Claremont who did much to develop the character.
He is depicted as one of the most powerful
mutants in the
Marvel Universe, possessing the ability to control
magnetism. He is also arguably one of the most morally complex
supervillain characters in
American comic books. A
Jewish
Holocaust survivor, it is his ambition to protect the mutant race from suffering a similar fate. Characterizations of Magneto have varied throughout the years, from villain to
anti-hero to even
hero, but he is most often shown as an uncompromising militant and has engaged in acts of
terrorism when he felt it was for the benefit of mutantkind. This puts him at odds with his friend
Charles Xavier, whose X-Men seek peaceful coexistence with the rest of humanity. Magneto has led his own teams, including the
Brotherhood of Mutants and
Acolytes.
While his militant actions have made him unpopular with some humans, many mutants have come to view him as a savior; at one point, when he was assumed to have died, he was portrayed as a martyr, with the phrase "Magneto was right" becoming popular among the mutant community.
Magneto has been the X-Men's primary antagonist since their first appearance. He has been featured in almost all X-Men
animated series and
video games and in the recent
film series, in which he is played by
Sir Ian McKellen.
Throughout the decades, Magneto has appeared in various issues of
Uncanny X-Men,
X-Men and several other Marvel Universe titles. When the character returned from a brief absence in 1993, he received a special
one-shot issue. The one-shot featured reprinted old Magneto stories that had originally appeared in issues of classic
X-Men. These stories had been written by Chris Claremont and drawn by British artist
John Bolton.
In 1996, Magneto was given another mini-series, this time written by
Peter Milligan and with Kelley Jones Gary as artist. During the time period it was published, it was believed that Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia; it was later revealed that this was really
a younger clone of Magneto.
Later, Magneto became ruler of the nation
Genosha. During this period he received two miniseries;
Magneto Rex (written by Joe Pruett and drawn by Brandon Peterson) and
Magneto: Dark Seduction (written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Roger Cruz).
Early life
As a young boy, Magneto and his family are persecuted for their
Jewish heritage. Magneto and his immediate family are shot by the
Nazis and buried in a mass grave. He alone survives, possibly due to the unconscious use of his magnetic powers. The young Magneto is captured shortly after escaping the grave, and is sent to
Auschwitz where he is forced to work in the
Sonderkommando.
After
World War II, Magneto marries the
gypsy Magda, a fellow survivor of the Nazi death camps and sires a daughter, Anya. Anya is later killed in a fire when a mob prevents Magneto from rescuing her. Unable to control his rage, Magneto's newfound powers manifest in an energy wave that kills the mob and the rest of the town, save Magda. Terrified by what has happened, Magda flees from her husband; with neither knowing she was pregant. Months later Magda discovers that she was pregnant again. After giving birth to the mutant twins
Quicksilver and the
Scarlet Witch, Magda disappears.
Magneto searches for his wife but finds no trace of her. Hunted for the destruction of the town and attempting to search for Magda among her own people, Magneto pays a forger to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
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Magneto and Xavier would eventually part ways due to the differences in their beliefs on how to help mutants. Art by Carlos Pacheco. |
Eventually, Magneto gives up his search for Magda and travels to
Israel, where he works at a psychiatric hospital near
Haifa that tries to help traumatized
Holocaust victims. There he meets and befriends
Charles Xavier. The two hold lengthy debates on the consequences of humanity facing a new, super-powered race of humans, with neither revealing to the other that they are mutants. The two friends reveal their powers to each other when they prevent Nazi
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and his
HYDRA agents from obtaining a large cache of Nazi gold. Magneto has a cave fall in on Strucker and, realizing that his and Xavier's views are incompatible, leaves with the gold.
Rise of Magneto
Magneto's experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp shapes his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the
world. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutant-kind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He believes that mutants (
"Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet. However, he constantly wavers between wanting peaceful existence with
Homo sapiens and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity.
 |
Magneto's debut in The [Uncanny] X-Men #1. Art by [[Jack Kirby |
.]]
In
X-Men #1, Magneto is introduced as a super-powered mutant
terrorist attacking an American military base. He is thwarted by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the
X-Men. After forming the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto briefly conquers the fictional South American nation of San Marco in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there, but is once again foiled by the X-Men. He later creates
Asteroid M, an orbital base of operations in an asteroid he and his followers hollow out, but it is later destroyed in a battle with the X-Men.
After several unsuccessful attempts at rallying more mutants to his cause, Magneto tries to force the allegiance of the
Stranger. A powerful alien being, the Stranger encases Magneto in a special cocoon and spirits him away to another planet where he remains for a long time. Magneto's Brotherhood splinters, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch desert him. Magneto eventually escapes and makes his way back to Earth where he attempts to reenlist them to his cause, but his plans are foiled by his former minion
Toad, who has grown tired of Magneto's cruel treatment.
Dabbling in
genetics, Magneto creates an artificial humanoid he names "
Alpha the Ultimate Mutant." Alpha rebels against his creator and reduces Magneto to infancy. Magneto is then placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor
Moira MacTaggert at
Muir Island. At Muir Island, MacTaggert tinkers with the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to prevent him from becoming "evil" in adulthood. However, her genetic tampering loses its effect when Magneto activates his powers again. Magneto is eventually restored to adulthood when he is found at
Muir Island by the alien
Shi'ar agent
Erik the Red.
Redemption
Magneto returns to his attempts at global conquest, and is opposed time and again by the X-Men and other heroes. In his most audacious attempt to conquer the world, he threatens the governments of the world with earthquakes and volcanic activity. Though he has no qualms about sinking a
Russian submarine that attacks him and then raising a volcano in the city of Varykino as revenge, he does give time for a mass evacuation before lava sweeps over the city. Likewise, he is shocked when he physically strikes down the adolescent X-Man
Kitty Pryde in battle. Remorseful at almost killing such a young girl, Magneto puts an end to his attempt at world conquest and retreats to rethink the path his life has taken.
Magneto later discovers that former Brotherhood members the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are actually his children, but when he tries reaching out to them they push him away and refuse to forgive him.
Magneto finds himself allied with Professor Xavier and the X-Men when a group of heroes and villains are abducted by the
Beyonder, a nearly omnipotent yet frustratingly short-sighted being, to an alien world to participate in the
Secret Wars. This surprises many of the other heroes who still believe he is a villain.
After the Secret Wars are over, Magneto is transported back to his base, Asteroid M, where the alien
Warlock, to Earth, collides into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto is sent falling towards Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean, sustaining serious injuries. He is rescued by
Lee Forrester, the captain of a fishing trawler. Lee helps him recuperate from his injuries and the two share a small romance.
After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto is asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder, and Magneto stays with the X-Men even after the Beyonder is defeated. His association with the team softens his views on humanity and Magneto surrenders himself to the law to stand trial for his crimes. A special tribunal is organized, and chooses to strike all charges against Magnetor from prior to his "rebirth," deeming that this had constituted a figurative death of the old Magneto. However, the tribunal is interrupted by an attack from
Fenris, the twin children of
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris is defeated but
Professor X is brought to near-death due to the strain of the battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asks Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, and tells him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes. Magneto agrees and chooses not to return to the courtroom. Instead he takes over Xavier's school under the assumed identity of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's cousin. Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin accepting him as their father.
Though Magneto makes a substantial effort as the headmaster to the
New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure is disastrous. He is forced to deal with the death of all of the younger students, the New Mutants, and their traumatic return to life after being slain by the godlike
Beyonder. He is manipulated by the
White Queen, mutant headmaster of the rival school "The Massachusetts Academy" into battling sanctioned heroes the
Avengers and the
Supreme Soviets. Magneto submits to a trial once again, but uses mind-control circuitry he salvages from the wreckage of Asteroid M to alter the opinions of the head justice in charge of the trial. As a result, he is finally absolved of his past crimes. Magneto does not make that decision lightly and wrestles with it afterwards. He is unable to prevent his students
Roberto Da Costa and the alien Technarch
Warlock from running away from the school, sees the death of the young mutant student
Douglas Ramsey, and witnesses the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television. Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken, Magneto forges an alliance with the X-Men's enemies the
Hellfire Club and went so far as to oust longtime co-chair
Sebastian Shaw in order to establish himself as the Hellfire Club's Grey King.
Seeing mutant-kind confronted with more perilous times than ever, Magneto begins seeking allies to protect mutants from humanity. He participates in the "
Acts of Vengeance" alongside such established villains as
Doctor Doom, the
Wizard and the
Mandarin. He also confronts
Red Skull, an unrepentant Nazi war criminal, on whom Magneto takes revenge by entombing him alive. He works alongside the American intelligence agent
Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to re-establish peace in the
Savage Land. Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto builds a second orbital base where he hopes to live a life of quiet seclusion. He is, by this point, a figurehead for the cause of mutanthood and is sought out by a group of new mutants calling themselves the
Acolytes.
Avalon and Genosha
After this, Magneto sets his sights significantly lower than world conquest; he seeks only a haven for mutantkind. He first attempts to make the orbital base known as
Asteroid M such a haven but is opposed by the governments of the world and the X-Men. The X-men do not know whether or not Magneto is returning to his villainous ways, so they confront him.
At the time the X-Men are divided into two teams, code named Blue Team and Gold Team. Xavier sends in the Blue Team, led by
Cyclops. Cyclops has never trusted Magneto, despite his reformation and Xavier trusting him enough to ask him to take care of the school in his absence. Without giving Magneto a chance to explain himself, Cyclops orders the team to attack. During the battle
Wolverine, who had been friends with Magneto when Magneto was on the team, attempts to kill him, much to Magneto's shock. With the exception of
Rogue, none of the X-Men are any different. Feeling betrayed by his former allies, Magneto flees.
Magneto later discovers how Moira had tampered with his mind when he had been de-aged. Enraged by this, he feels that his redemption has been a lie. Though it was later revealed that the genetic tampering had lost its effect when he had first used his powers after being re-aged, and thus his actions had never been influenced by Moira's tampering, the damage was done. Magneto once more becomes the X-Men's enemy.
The
United Nations Security Council, in response to a resurgent Magneto, votes to activate the "Magneto Protocols" - a satellite network, in slightly lower orbit than Avalon, which skews the Earth's magnetic field enough to prevent Magneto from using his powers within, preventing him from returning to the planet's surface. In response, Magneto generates a massive electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electrically powered device on Earth within eleven minutes. The X-Men respond by hacking into
Avalon's own computer systems to teleport a small team to the station with the aid of
Colossus (who had joined Magneto as one of Magneto's Acolytes). There the X-Men engage Magneto in battle. Finally, Wolverine launches a killing strike which leads Magneto to respond by ripping the adamantium from Wolverine's bones. This act of self-defense enrages Xavier to the point that he mindwipes his former friend, leaving him in a coma. This action lead to the creation of
Onslaught.
Magneto remains comatose on Avalon worshipped by his Acolytes, under the leadership of
Exodus, until Avalon itself is destroyed. During the destruction,
Colossus places Magneto in an escape pod sending him back to Earth. This pod is intercepted by
Astra, a former ally who now desires his death. She clones Magneto and when the clone is ready, she restores Magneto's mind since she feels there is no point in killing him unless he knows it is her doing. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphs over the clone sending him crashing into a Mexican barn. However, weakened by this, the real Magneto goes into hiding while the now-amnesiac clone becomes known as
Joseph (christened as such by the nun who discovered him) and eventually joins the X-Men.
Since the world believes Joseph to be the real Magneto, Magneto takes his time to plan. He engages in a pair of brief diversions, first posing as "Erik the Red" and revealing
Gambit's past crimes to the X-Men, resulting in Gambit's expulsion from the group. Then he kills Odekirk to prevent his true identity from being discovered by
Sabra and Gabrielle Haller.
Following this, Magneto constructs a machine to amplify his powers and blackmail the world into creating a mutant nation. The X-Men and Joseph, who has fallen under Astra's control again, oppose him. The X-Men defeat Magneto, leaving his powers severely depleted from over-strain, while Joseph sacrifices his life to restore the Earth to normal. The
United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, cedes to Magneto the island nation of
Genosha, which has no recognized government. Magneto rules that nation for some time with the aid of many who had previously opposed him, including Quicksilver,
Polaris, and the founder of the Acolytes,
Fabian Cortez.
Despite the UN's hopes that Genosha's civil war between humans and mutants would destroy or at least occupy him, Magneto crushes all opposition to his rule and rebuilds the nation by forming an army of mutants dedicated to his cause, including mutants coming from all over the world seeking sanctuary.
Eventually, Magneto is able to use the
Genegineer's equipment to fully restore his power. Intending to declare war on humanity, he captures
Professor X to use as a symbol with which to rally his troops. In the
Eve of Destruction storyline,
Jean Grey recruits a new lineup of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier and defeat Magneto. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacks the defeated Magneto, leaving him with serious injuries and crippling him for a time.
Xorn
Soon after this, Genosha is decimated by
Sentinels under the orders of
Cassandra Nova Xavier, Charles Xavier's previously unknown dead twin sister, whom Xavier had killed in the womb. Magneto and 16 million mutants who were gathered at Genosha are reported deceased. Months after the event, a team of X-Men searching in the debris find what was apparently a recording of Magneto's last words. Mutant-supremacist ideas, attributed to him, become wide-spread in the mutant community with some holding him as a martyr of the mutant cause. Magneto has become a
Che Guevara-like revolutionary figure in the mutant community. T-shirts and posters with Magneto's face and the phrase "Magneto Was Right" become popular items, even amongst certain students in the Xavier Institute.
Meanwhile, the mutant known as
Xorn joins the X-Men after being rescued from captivity in
China. Xorn is said to be a Chinese mutant with a "star for a brain" and wears a face-concealing metal helmet with a skull-like motif. He also possesses nebulous healing powers, although the only time he was shown to heal anyone is when he deactivates a number of microscopic
Sentinels and simultaneously restores Professor Xavier's ability to walk.
In the
Planet X storyline, he eventually removes the helmet, revealing Magneto's face beneath. It is alleged that Xorn never existed and is simply an identity conceived wholly by Magneto. Having "exposed his deception", he then schemes to destroy the X-Men and reverse the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field, increasing his power with the use of a mutant drug called "
Kick". He recruits the Special Class and
Esme from the Xavier School to serve as his Brotherhood of Mutants, though most eventually turn against him. Before being decapitated by Wolverine, "Magneto" devastates much of New York City and kills
Jean Grey using a lethal electromagnetic pulse that caused her to have a massive
stroke.
Some time later, the X-Men find another Xorn, who identifies himself as Shen Xorn and reveals that the "Magneto" who devastated New York was Kuan-Yin Xorn, his brother. Kuan-Yin Xorn had been possessed by Sublime, a sentient bacterium, through his frequent use of "Kick," which was Sublime in aerosol form. Marvel
editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stated that "Kuan-Yin Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto."
Rebuilding Genosha
 |
Magneto returns. |
With the launch of a new
Excalibur series, Xavier meets up with the real Magneto who is still alive. Xavier brings with him the corpse of Kuan-Yin Xorn and when Magneto asks who it is, Xavier explains how the impostor had killed over 5,000 people including Jean Grey. Magneto is shocked and angry that people think he is capable of committing such an act.
Xavier: The latest death count in New York is 5,000. Slaughtered simply because they weren't mutants, as a demonstration of will and power.:Magneto: And they think me capable of such a thing? Do you think me capable of such a thing?:Xavier: Well, you do have a certain... reputation.:Magneto: Not for THIS!
Xavier and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process. But tragedy would strike before long.
House of M
Magneto's insanely powerful daughter Wanda Maximoff, the
Scarlet Witch, suffers a mental breakdown over the loss of her children and starts to warp reality in order to recreate them, inadvertently resulting in
random attacks on the Avengers. The Avengers confront the mentally unstable Wanda and
Doctor Strange puts her in a coma. Over in Genosha, Magneto hears Wanda's psychic cry for help. He creates a
wormhole and transports to Wanda's location. Before the Avengers can do anything, Magneto grabs his daughter and flies away.
Back in Genosha, Magneto keeps Wanda in a bed taking care of her. He becomes more withdrawn and angry, refusing to let anyone into the house with the exception of Xavier, who he believes could help her. When Xavier returns from a mission he was on, he is enraged that Magneto blew his cover in front of the entire Avengers. Magneto begs his old friend to help his daughter and Xavier agrees to try.
Xavier spends several months trying to help Wanda to no avail. Not even Strange's
magic does anything for her. Worried, he arranges a meeting for the X-Men and the Avengers to decide what should be done. Some of the members say that the only option is to kill Wanda.
Quicksilver rushes to Magneto and tells him that the two groups are planning on killing Wanda.
When an ashamed Magneto admits that he doesn't know what to do anymore and that the groups may be right, Quicksilver convinces Wanda that she can undo her wrongs by using her powers to turn the world into a world of peace. Using her powers, Wanda warps reality into the
House of M, a world where mutants are the majority, humans the minority and Magneto the ruler.
In this world, Magneto is attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979. At the end of the attack, Magneto reveals an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving
Richard Nixon. The main result of this is that Magneto is granted sovereignty of the island of Genosha as leader of the world's mutants.
In this altered reality, a young mutant named
Layla Miller is able to use her mutant abilities to allow others to see the "real world" as it was prior to the events of House of M. She uses these powers to show a small group of heroes the proper timeline. The heroes band together and travel to Genosha to attack Magneto, believing him to be the one responsible for the change. During the battle Layla is able to restore Magneto's memories as well.
Magneto confronts Quicksilver, enraged that Quicksilver had done all of this in his name. Quicksilver reveals that Magneto would have let Wanda die, but Magneto replies that Quicksilver was only using Wanda and himself. Furious, Magneto kills Quicksilver by pummeling him with large pieces of steel and then crushing him with a sentinel.
Sensing what was happening to her brother, Wanda obliterates the tower she was in and incapacitates Magneto with a thought, and removes his mouth when he tries to talk to her. She revives Quicksilver, telling Magneto that Quicksilver had only wanted him to be happy. She tells him that even when she gave him what he wanted he was still this horrible man, that mutants weren't gods, and they weren't the next step: they were freaks. She screams that he chose this over them and he ruined them. With the phrase "No more mutants," Wanda changes the world back to its original form and causes ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers (the
Decimation event), leaving the mutant race on the brink of extinction. Magneto is one of the many mutants to lose their powers, and is left a broken man.
When Quicksilver comes to Genosha to restore the mutants' powers with the
Inhumans'
Terrigen Mists, Magneto condemns his actions, pointing out the disastrous effects the Mists have on non-Inhumans. The Mists increase the powers of the mutants who take them, killing
Unus and leaving
Callisto comatose. An angry Quicksilver attacks Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, savagely beating him until his daughter
Luna begs him to stop. When the Inhumans come looking for their Mists, Magneto tells them what has happened.
The Collective
|
Magneto repowered by the Collective. From New Avengers #20. Art by Mike Deodato. |
In
New Avengers #20,
the Collective, a being comprised of energy from all the former mutants' powers, merges with an energy absorbing mutant named Michael. The Collective seemingly kills the current incarnation of
Alpha Flight, and battles the New Avengers before landing in
Genosha. There it repowers Magneto and reveals itself as
Xorn. Xorn explains that he took the image of Magneto because he knew mutants would follow him, and that they needed the real Magneto again. Magneto, not in control of himself, begins attacking the New Avengers and
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while he pleads for them to kill him. He is taken down with a direct brain attack from mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
Daisy Johnson.
Iron Man,
Ms. Marvel and
the Sentry combine their powers and send the Collective/Xorn into the sun. Michael is separated from the Collective. Magneto, unconscious, is loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter, but it explodes upon take-off; his body is not found among the rubble.
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Magneto ripping the adamantium from Wolverine's bones. |
Magneto is a mutant with the superhuman power of
magnetokinesis. Magneto can shape and manipulate magnetic fields that exist naturally or artificially. As the Master of Magnetism, he can lift, move, and alter objects (sometimes weighing many thousands of tons) through magnetic force, manipulate the iron-enriched blood-flow to one's brain to induce aneurysms or unconsciousness, control ferrous particles in the atmosphere, alter the
Earth's magnetic field which extends into space as the
magnetosphere, increase his own strength, erect electro-magnetic force fields with a high degree of impenetrability, and achieve a wide range of other effects. Magneto has even used his magnetic abilities to extract the Adamantium bonded to Wolverine's skeleton, by manipulating it on a molecular level. With the primal force of nature at his command, Magneto has stopped armies, raised islands from ocean floors, moved mountains and threatened to devastate the world with apocalyptic floods and earthquakes. Magneto once blanketed the entire globe with a self-generated electro-magnetic pulse that caused widespread devastation.
Magneto can use his magnetic powers in more than one way simultaneously. He can completely assemble a complicated machine within seconds through his powers. Although Magneto often gestures when using his magnetic powers, he can utilize them fully even when standing totally still merely by concentrating. His ability to wield his superhuman powers effectively is dependent upon his physical condition. When severely injured, his body is unable to withstand the strain of manipulating great amounts of magnetic forces. When his powers are not at their peak, he appears to have greater difficulty controlling forces other than magnetism.
Magneto usually protects himself with a personal forcefield that he can quickly expand to protect large areas. His forcefield has withstood the effects of multiple nuclear weapons, volcanic eruption, the depths of space and attacks from multiple Avengers or X-men, as well as Phoenix, Thor, and even Galactus (during the Secret Wars.) By concentrating Magneto can perceive the world around himself solely as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. He can perceive the natural magnetic auras surrounding living beings, as well.
Although Magneto's primary power is magnetism, he seems to have some ability to project or manipulate any form of energy that is related to the
electromagnetic spectrum. He can fire and absorb bolts of electricity and magnetic force, reverse lasers and other forms of radiation or energy, create enough intense heat as infrared radiation to destroy a metal door, and become invisible by deflecting visible light around his body. (He has also dispersed a "flame cage" created by the
original Human Torch, but whether he had simply expanded his personal force field or employed something else entirely is unclear.) In both
Excalibur (vol. 3) and the possible future of
X-Men: The End, Magneto uses his powers to create a traversable
wormhole between two points in space.
A mastermind, Magneto is a genius within various scientific fields. He is an expert on
genetic manipulation and
engineering, with knowledge far beyond that of contemporary science. He can mutate humans in order to give them superhuman powers, instill genetic mind-control, create adult clones of human beings, and then manipulate the genetic structures of these clones during their development. He has designed magnetically-powered skycraft and spacecraft, complex robots and computers, and magnetically-powered generators. He has created artificial living beings, space stations, and machines that nullify mutant powers within a radius of several miles.
Magneto is a skilled strategist and hand-to-hand combatant. While he has no true psionic disciplines to speak of, he has been able to successfully fight off telepathic attacks from Professor Xavier, Jean Grey, and
Psylocke through sheer force of will.
Ultimate Magneto
In the reality of
Earth-1610, Magneto, a.k.a. Erik Lehnsherr's background differs greatly from his Earth-616 history. His wife's name was Isabelle, and is aware from the beginning of his familial relationship with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It is also noted that he verbally mistreats them, hinting that he regards them as a living reminder of having an inter-species relationship. Far from being a survivor of The Holocaust, this Magneto hails from a wealthy American family with interests in the oil-business and a connection to the Bush brothers. In an obvious parallel to Osama Bin Laden, Magneto long ago cut all ties with his human family, though it is implied that he and Charles Xavier launched their initial campaign for mutant recognition on the back of Lensherr money. An arrogant fantasist who gradually sank deeper and deeper into his self-proclaimed role as Mutant Messiah, Eric Lensherr eventually reinvented himself as Magneto, the leader of the
Brotherhood of Mutants and a ruthless terrorist who is willing to kill hundreds in the name of mutant supremacy (Ultimate X-Men #1). Additionally, he was the one to cripple
Professor X. In this continuity, Magnus has quintessentially replaced
Doctor Doom as the "Marvel-wide" villain for Earth-1610.
In addition, Magneto helped Xavier to create the Savage Land, using his knowledge of technology and genetics. He created an artificial language called Epsilon-Omega, based on
Esperanto and featuring its
own script, for mutants to use in the Savage Land. They even have plays and songs in this language.
This version of Magneto is significantly darker and more cynical than the mainstream version, regarding all humans with utter and unwavering disdain and likening them to "insects". On several occasions he has attempted to implement unflinchingly genocidal plans for humanity. He commands a noticeably larger Brotherhood than his mainstream counterpart and has displayed enough power to defeat the Ultimates (including Thor). Magneto was imprisoned following the events of "Return of the King", the sixth arc in the series. Aside from a brief mention in the
Ultimate Six arc of
Ultimate Spider-man, he was then unseen until "Magnetic North", the 12th arc and the final run for writer Brian K. Vaughan. Magneto was found to have hatched a scheme to escape, utilizing the willing cooperation of Forge and Mystique as well as the unwilling but amicable aid of Longshot's mutation for luck. Magneto escapes by the end of the arc, leaving Mystique in his cell to impersonate him. He and Longshot then exit the Triskelion unharassed and Magneto makes it clear to Longshot that he has something different planned than any of his more typical world-domination schemes.
Amalgam
In
Amalgam Comics, Magneto leads the Magnetic Men who are merged versions of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and
DC Comics'
Metal Men.
Days of Future Past
In this possible future, when Sentinel robots rule North America, Magneto is in a wheelchair and, like the rest of the surviving X-Men save
Wolverine, held in a mutant concentration camp, his powers suppressed by an inhibitor collar. It is implied but never stated that he devised the X-Men's plan to escape from the camp and send Kate Pryde's spirit back through time. When
Franklin Richards is able to disable the inhibitors and the other X-Men flee the camp, Magneto stays behind to cover their escape and is presumably killed by the Sentinels.
Earth X
In
Earth X, Magneto resides in Sentinel City, a city he constructed after drawing all the Sentinels to the
Savage Land and using the extra forces there, destroying all the sentinels and turning them into a city. He rules there with
Toad.
After the
Celestial is removed from the Earth, the resulting shifts due to the removal of the
vibranium within the Earth shifts the magnetic poles such that Magneto is depowered and Toad is given all of Magneto's powers. Toad forces Magneto to constantly dance and humiliates him at every opportunity by forcing him to become a
Jester. When the vibranium is restored, Magneto's powers are restored as well. Magneto then joins the other heroes in the fight against
Creel.
In the reality of
Earth-295, Magneto founds this world's X-Men after the death of his friend Charles Xavier, at the hands of Xavier's own son
David who traveled back in time to kill Magneto hoping to fullfill his "father's greatest wish". He and the X-Men fight against the forces of this world's
Apocalypse who, without the interference of Xavier, was able to take over North America.
Holocaust,
Sinister,
Mikhail Rasputin and
Abyss are Apocalypse's horsemen, and while Magneto's team is composed not only of X-Men but also of standardly "evil" mutants from traditional timelines, including mutants such as Sabretooth, other individuals who are "heroes" in Earth 616 serve Apocalypse in this timeline.
In this timeline, Rogue and Magneto are married (able to touch due to a magnetic aura) and have a child together. Rogue is brought to consciousness once by the shapechanger Morph pretending to be her son. In the end of this story the X-Men use the M'Kraan Crystal to send Bishop back in time to prevent Xavier from being accidentally killed by his own son. As they change the timeline back to its proper course, Magneto and Nate Grey square off against Apocalypse and Holocaust. After Nate Grey jams the M'Kraan Crystal shard into Holocaust's armor, they are both transported back into the normal timeline. The battle between Magneto and Apocalypse ends with Magneto using his control of magnetism to rip the metallic Apocalypse in half. Following this, Apocalypse's stronghold and most of North America are enveloped in nuclear bombs.
Marvel Zombies
In the reality of
Marvel Zombies, Magneto is one of a few survivors following a plague that caused an
undead-like effect in "super-powered beings". Magneto helps Ultimate
Reed Richards return to Earth-1610 after he is lured into it by a zombie version of himself who is desperate for fresh living meat. After Richards escapes with some civilian survivors, Magneto stays behind as he is the only one capable of destroying Richard's dimensional transporter so that zombies won't infect Earth-1610. He begins running from the super hero zombies. He then is contacted by the
Acolytes who have held up in
Asteroid M. They offer to send a shuttle down but Magneto asks them to not come down and risk infection, and says that he will find a way up to them, somehow. Magneto is confronted by some zombie heroes and prepares for a fight, when the zombiefied
Wasp bites him on his neck, giving him the zombie plague. However, before he can turn into a zombie, he is eaten alive by the other zombies.
Magneto's appearance here is a different story. Known as Enrique, or else as the Grand Inquisitor, Magneto's true agenda is a mystery. His Inquisition is an offshoot of the Church, based in Spain, and he frequently answers to the Pope through his agent in the Vatican, Toad. Enrique's only other known followers are his children Quicksilver (called Petros) and the Scarlet Witch (referred to as Sister Wanda). He reveals at the end that he is aware of his familial ties to them, but they are not, and he will decide when to tell them. For much of the story, Enrique is using his position to further his needs and curry favour with influential figures, including King James of Scotland. To do this, he has all 'witchbreed' (as mutants are known as) killed; however, during one of these sacrifices, that of
Angel, the subject is rescued by
Iceman and
Cyclops. Undeterred, Enrique continues to further his own mysterious needs, but Toad is discovered to be a witchbreed by the Pope's men, and to save his own life he sells out Enrique, Petros and Wanda. The trio are set to be sacrificed like they had done to so many more, but Enrique easily escapes. Many of the heroes, including the X-Men,
Nick Fury and the
Fantastic Four, have already escaped to America, so Enrique and his followers pursue them. However, the world is under the threat of impending doom, and
Richard Reed has determined that, to restore balance, Enrique has to co-operate. Eventually, with the help of Fury and
Thor, Enrique is able to participate in the restoring of the world. He then tells his enemy, Carlos Javier, to train Petros and Wanda, and he then disappears.
X-Men: Fairy Tales
In the second issue of the
X-Men: Fairy Tales limited series, based on the African story
The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle, Magneto appears as the eagle, alongside
Professor X as the tortoise. Magneto/eagle has witnessed his family's slaughter when he was young, and had to teach himself to fly and survive. He has many 'demons' of his past that continue to haunt him, although while he is with his friend,
Professor X/tortoise, they fade. When they come back to haunt him, he no longer believes in the friendship, thinking himself a danger to those around him.
Earth #27
In the Exiles comics, an alternate good version of Magneto living on Earth #27 falls in love with
Rogue. Magneto uses his powers to alter Rogue's DNA so they can touch and kiss. They have a child together, a son whom they name
Magnus (after Magneto of course). Magnus grows up in a timeline in which Magneto joins the X-Men and married Rogue, which explains both his magnetic powers and the white streak in his auburn hair. He quickly shows the potential to be an even more powerful master of magnetism than his father. Unfortunately, during his teens, Magnus develops his second mutation, which turns anyone touched by his skin into immobile steel, never dying. Like his mother he cannot touch anyone. Magnus lives a lonely life, and is eventually forced to join the Exiles, a group of alternate reality mutants forced to repair broken realities. Magnus dies on the team's first mission after giving his life to stop a dangerous bomb set by Orgetorix, who wishes to display his superiority once and for all. After the Exiles learn that Magnus' corpse is trapped inside the Crystal Palace, they break it free and return it to his homeworld, where Magnus is granted a funeral by his father and mother, and honored by that world's Nightcrawler.
Movies
Magneto was played by two-time Academy Award-nominee Sir
Ian McKellen in the movie
X-Men and its sequels,
X2: X-Men United and
X-Men: The Last Stand. In the first and third films, Magneto is the main villain.
A
Magneto movie is in the works, and Ian McKellen recently revealed that both he and
Patrick Stewart will be in it, thanks to de-aging technology. A small article from
Entertainment Weekly has information on the movie:
"It's going to take place from 1939 Auschwitz up to 1955 or so," says writer Sheldon Turner of his just-announced "period" prequel to Fox's X-Men franchise. An exploration of villain Magneto's "psychological roots," Turner's script will also shed light on the youthful mutant's friend-then-nemesis Charles Xavier."Cartoons
He appeared in a few Marvel Cartoons from 1979-1981.
*
Fantastic Four (1979) - "The Menace Of Magneto"
*
Spider-Man (1980) - "When Magneto Speaks....People Listen"
*
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends - "The Prison Plot"
*Magneto's voice was provided by
David Hemblen in the animated television series
X-Men and by
Lorne Kennedy in the
Capcom fighting games. In the series, he first appeared in the third and fourth episodes of the series where he first launched a missile but it was stopped by the X-Men. Then he wanted to destroy a factory but was stopped by the X-Men yet again. At the first season finale, he helped the X-Men defeat the Master Mold and the Sentinels, despite they would return in the fourth season. He then appeared in nearly every episode in the second season where he and Professor Xavier were powerless and travelled throughout the Savage Land. In the end of that season, all of the X-Men saved them from Mr. Sinister and their powers were regained. Then, in the fourth season, he helped defeat Apocalypse. Later, he lived on Asteroid M but it was destroyed. He didn't care about even destroying mankind when Asteroid M was destryoed until he got the news from the Beast, Forge, Mr. Sinister and a Morlock that his son, Quicksilver, was kidnapped by the Phalnax. He teamed up with them to defeat the Phalnax and save everyone he had captured. By the end of the series, he had already gathered up an entire army of rebellion mutants against humans. But he got the news from Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean Grey that Professor Xavier was dying. He then had Xavier say his goodbyes to the X-Men before he died. An alien then got Xavier to her planet where despite he died, he would be resurrected but it it doubtful.
His voice was provided by
Christopher Judge in the animated television series
X-Men: Evolution. He presumably worked with Mystique and the X-Men never knew his existence until the first season finale, where it is revealed Magneto and Mystique weren't working with each other because when Nightcrawler was born and Mystique was figured to be his mother, Magneto separated the two from each other. His plan for the X-Men in the first season finale was which ever X-Men or Brotherhood member defeated each other in battle, they would be taken to Asteroid M. The X-Men then caused destruction to Asteroid M where it would blow up. The X-Men and Brotherhood escaped whereas Magneto and Mystique were presumed killed in the resulting explosion. However, there were two spheres that flew out, hinting they were alive.
It was revealed in the second season Magneto and Mystique did survive the destruction of Asteroid M and Magneto had stolen the back-up equipment of Operation: Rebirth. Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Rogue intended to destroy the machinery because it nearly killed Captain America back in World War II. But Magneto revealed that Operation: Rebirth is only dangerous for humans, whereas it makes mutants even more powerful. Magneto was dying of old age since the explosion at Asteroid M because he got his energy there. He was then completely energized and Wolverine realized that when he was a soldier back during World War II, Magneto was Polish boy he saved.
At the second season finale, it is revealed that the Scarlet Witch was Magneto's daughter he abandoned because he liked Piatro, his son, better. Magneto had formed a team called the Alcolytes which included Sabretooth, Colossus, Gambit and Pyro. They teamed up with the X-Men and Brotherhood to take down the Sentinel, a giant mutant-killing machine. They eventually defeated it but revealed to humans around the world about the existence of humans. And also, when the Sentinel was defeated, it seemingly landed on top of Magneto and blew up, which presumably killed him.
But by the third season premiere, it is revealed that Magneto had survived when the Sentinel was defeated because Piatro, with his super speed powers, saved him from getting killed without getting noticed. The Scarlet Witch and Toad found out about this on a news video.
By the third season finale, Rogue was hypnotized to steal half the powers of the X-Men, Bortherhood and Alcolytes. Magneto was aware of this ,as he remembered and Rogue was hypnotized yet again to unleash Apocalypse to the world. The X-Men, Brotherhood and Alcolytes teamed up again but failed to stop Apocalypse.
By the fourth season premiere, when the mutants had take down Apocalypse, Magneto was seemingly killed by the god-like mutant when he disentegrated him. But it is revealed by the series finale that Apocalypse spared Magneto's life and merely transported him underground until he can get four mutants to be his Four Horsemen. The members were of course Magneto, Mystique, Storm and Professor Xavier. They were all hypnotized to be the Horsemen and Magneto defeated the Sentinels that tried to take down one of the pyramids of Apocalypse's tomb. Shadowcat, the Scarlet Witch, Havok, Angel and the remaining Brotherhood members fought against Magneto to get to destroy the tomb. But they never did but when Apocalypse was defeated, all of the Horsemen, including Magneto, got out of the hypnotization and Magneto lived a life a family with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
At the final moments of the series, when Xavier revealed while he was hypnotized, he saw the future in Apocalypse's mind and Magneto is shown working with the X-Men.
|
Magneto as a playable character in the video game X-Men Legends II |
Music
The album
Venus and Mars by
Wings includes a song about
superheroes called "Magneto and Titanium Man". Paul McCartney was said to have tourned the Marvel offices soon after the album came out in the
Bullpen Bulletins and it was claimed that he was a fan of Marvel Comics. The song references the names of two other Marvel villains (
Titanium Man and the
Crimson Dynamo). Another song to feature Magneto is the
Tearjerkers' "Comic Book Heroes" from the various artists compliation
Through the Back Door, in which some of the lyrics are "
Doc Ock,
Von Doom and Magneto, don't wanna be like them."Magneto is a song by the post-hardcore band Brigade, fronted by
Charlie Simpson's brother, Will.
Video games
Magneto has also appeared in most of the X-Men video game spinoffs, usually as a
boss and sometimes as a playable character. His most notable appearances are in
X-Men: Children of the Atom and
X-Men Legends (and
its sequel) which has been released on various platforms. He is also a very popular character in
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 due to his high mobility and speed. He is considered one of the top 4 characters in the game, placing him in the so-called "god tier", along with
Storm,
Cable and
Sentinel.
A capeless and non-helmeted version of Magneto was a playable character in the game,
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. In story mode, he is the last playable Marvel character in the game's story mode and like many Marvel heroes and villains in the story, is taken down by the most powerful
Imperfect,
Paragon, after she refuses his offer of an alliance.
In
X-Men Legends, Magneto is voiced by
Tony Jay. In
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Magneto was made the main playable character as part of the game's Brotherhood, and is voiced by
Richard Greene.
*A
Jack Kirby close up image of Magneto's face was used as source material for
Roy Lichtenstein's
Image Duplicator (1963).
*While Magneto is Jewish, for a while he maintained a cover identity as a
Sinte Gypsy while searching for his wife Magda. This created confusion amongst some readers as to his heritage
[The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Erik Magnus Lehnsherr – Magneto. URL last checked 2006-05-31.], until it was authoritatively confirmed that he is Jewish.
[Meth, Clifford. Protocols of the Elders of Marvel. URL last checked 2006-05-31.] It should be noted that this confusion probably stems from a comic book published in the early 1990s which attempted to retcon Magneto into being a Sinte, possibly because Marvel was preparing to make Magneto a deadly villain again in the crossover called "Fatal Attractions" and they did not want to draw accusations of anti-Semitism by having one of their main villians be Jewish. This attempted retcon was corrected a few years later when it was revealed that the name "Erik Lehnsherr" and the Sinte ethnicity were part of a cover identity, as mentioned above.
*
Marvel Comics official site*
Magneto's bio at UncannyXmen.net*
Magneto (Magnus) - A profile of Magneto at
MarvelDatabase.
*
Metaphilm: The Dark Wisdom of Erik Lensherr*
Magneto is Jewish FAQ*
Polar: The History of Magneto
