Magneto (comics)
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Magneto is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Primarily associated with the superhero group the X-Men, both as ally and enemy, he first appeared in X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
Magneto is depicted as one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe, possessing the ability to control magnetism. He is also one of the most morally complex characters in American comic books. A Jewish Holocaust survivor, it is his ambition to protect the mutant race from suffering a similar fate that drives his actions. Characterizations of Magneto have varied through the years, from supervillain 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 been the X-Men’s primary antagonist since his (and their) first appearance. He has led several teams against them, including the Brotherhood of Mutants and the 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 and his face becoming an icon in t-shirts and posters, similarly to Che Guevara.
He is also the father of the superheroes Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Polaris. Zaladane is his alleged daughter.
He has been featured in almost all X-Men animated series and video games and in the feature-film series, in which he is played by Sir Ian McKellen.
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[edit] Publication history
Magneto first appeared in the debut issue of X-Men in 1963, along with the titular team of the same name, where he attempts to take control of a missile base. Magneto later forms the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4, which faces the X-Men regularly for the first few years of the title's existence. In his early appearances, Magneto is simply portrayed as an evil supervillain bent on taking over the world.
Through the decades from the 1960s, Magneto has appeared in several issues of the original X-Men series, generally known as Uncanny X-Men, as well as in such spin-offs as X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Alpha Flight, Cable, Excalibur and The New Mutants; many X-Men miniseries, and several other Marvel titles. His first solo title was a one-shot special, Magneto: The Twisting of a Soul #0 (Sept. 1993), published when the character returned from a brief absence; it reprinted Magneto-based stories from Classic X-Men #12 & 19 (Aug. 1987 & March 1988), by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Bolton.
Magneto's first original title was the four-issue miniseries Magneto (Nov. 1996 - Feb. 1997), by writers Peter Milligan & Jorge Gonzalez, and penciler Kelley Jones. In this miniseries, it was believed Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia; it was later revealed this was really Joseph, 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).
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Early life
As revealed in a flashback in Classic X-Men #12, young Magneto and his family are persecuted for their Jewish heritage. They are shot by the Nazis and buried in a mass grave, but Magneto survives only to be captured and sent to Auschwitz. There he is forced to work in the Sonderkommando.
While in Auschwitz, Magneto falls in love with a gypsy named Magda. Together they escape the prison camp and marry, and Magda soon gives birth to their daughter, Anya. Anya is later killed in a fire, a mob of people preventing Magneto from rescuing her. Enraged, Magneto's powers manifest uncontrollably, killing the mob and the surrounding townspeople. Terrified, Magda flees Magneto, discovering months later she is pregnant again. After giving birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Magda disappears. Hunted for the destruction of the town and attempting to search for Magda among her own people, it is revealed in X-Men (v2) #72 that Magneto pays a forger to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
Magneto's relationship with Charles Xavier is developed in a flashback in Uncanny X-Men #161. In this issue, Xavier remembers meeting Magneto, at the time using the alias "Magnus", while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. There, the two hold lengthy debates on the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither reveals to the other that they are mutants. When the two friends reveal their powers to each other and face Baron Von Strucker, Magneto leaves, realizing his and Xavier's views are incompatible.
Sometime after his wife left him, Magneto worked as a hunter of Nazi war criminals for a mysterious agency, taking orders from a man known as Control. Control and his agency decide Magneto is taking too many liberties in his assignments, and they attempt to kill him, but Magneto seemingly kills them all.
[edit] 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 homosapiens and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity.
Magneto's first terrorist act was attacking a United States 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.
[edit] 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 mutant, 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, travelling 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 Magneto 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.
[edit] Avalon and Genosha
After this, Magneto sets his sights significantly lower than world conquest; he seeks only a heaven 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.
[edit] 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."
[edit] House of M
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 explains how the impostor has 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 and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process.
Magneto's daughter Wanda 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, until Doctor Strange puts her in a coma. In Genosha, Magneto hears Wanda's psychic cry for help and, using a wormhole, whisks her away before the Avengers can do anything.
Back in Genosha, Magneto tends to Wanda, becoming more withdrawn and angry, allowing only Xavier to visit, in the belief that Xavier can help Wanda. Xavier is angry to learn that Magneto revealed he was alive, in rescuing Wanda, but agrees to try and help. Months pass with no avail, and not even Dr. Strange's magic helps. The X-Men and the Avengers meet to decide what should be done, and when some of the members suggest killing Wanda, Quicksilver rushes to Magneto to inform him of this development.
Magneto admits that he doesn't know what to do anymore and that the groups may be right, but Quicksilver convinces Wanda that she can undo her wrongs, prompting her to warp reality into the House of M. In the new reality, Magneto is attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979, and reveals an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. This results in Magneto being granted sovereignty over Genosha as leader of the world's mutants.
A group of heroes have their memories of the "real world" restored by Layla Miller, and they band together and attack Magneto in Genosha, believing him to be the one responsible. During the battle Layla is able to restore Magneto's memories as well, and he confronts his son, 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 her brother's death, Wanda incapacitates Magneto 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, but even when she gave Magneto what he wanted he was still a horrible man, and mutants were freaks. With the phrase "Daddy - 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. 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. An angry Quicksilver attacks Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, savagely beating him until his own daughter Luna begs him to stop. When the Inhumans come looking for their Mists, Magneto tells them what has happened.
[edit] The Collective
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.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Arguably one of the most powerful beings on the planet [1], Magneto is a mutant with the superhuman power to 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 (e.g., he can lift a Russian Typhoon-class submarine from the ocean floor, project metal at an unparalleled velocity and place tremendous pressure on metallic substances to liquefy and reshape them), manipulate the iron-enriched blood-flow to one's brain to induce aneurysms or unconsciousness, redirect the flow of blood through one's brain to alter thoughts and perceptions or blank a persons mind completely, levitate a person or control a person's actions by manipulating the iron in their bloodstream, remove the iron from the bloodsteam entirely through a person's skin, control ferrous particles in the atmosphere, alter the Earth's magnetic field which extends into space as the magnetosphere, prodigiously increase his own strength to superhuman levels, erect electromagnetic force fields with a high degree of impenetrability, and achieve a wide range of other effects. Magneto has used his magnetic abilities to extract the Adamantium bonded to Wolverine's skeleton. Magneto has even 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 usually protects himself with a personal forcefield that he can quickly expand to protect large areas, usually derived from redirecting or bending the Earth's magnetic field around himself, repelling the danger. His forcefield has withstood the effects of multiple nuclear weapons, volcanic eruption, the depths of space and attacks from multiple Avengers or X-Men, including Phoenix, Thor, and even Galactus (during the Secret Wars).
Magneto is also capable of flight for very long distances and at varying speeds by repelling his body's natural polarity against another powerful source of magnetism. On Earth, he flies by repelling against the magnetic resonance of the planet's core. With his electro-magnetic force field active, he can attain flight in outer-space as well.
By concentrating, Magneto can perceive the world around himself as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. He can perceive the natural magnetic auras surrounding living beings.
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.
Although Magneto's primary power is magnetism, he has 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 Excalibur (vol. 3), Magneto uses his powers to create a traversable wormhole between two points in space.
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.
In some media, Magneto can be rendered powerless — when placed in an environment free of metal, he is unable to manipulate any material present for use offensively or defensively. This is shown in the recent films, in which he is imprisoned in a facility entirely made of plastic but later escapes after weaponizing the copious amount of iron injected in one of the guards' bloodstreams by Mystique.
A long-running mystery throughout the history of the X-Men is to what extent Magneto is capable of manipulating the psionic spectrum. A definitive explanation has never been given, though Magneto has been depicted reading minds (stated as a "scan of surface thought") and he has been able to fight off telepathic intrusions and attacks from the likes of Psylocke, Jean Grey, and even Professor Xavier through sheer force of will, though the latter was able to mindwipe Magneto.
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, 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.
[edit] Inspirations
Director of X-Men Bryan Singer has stated that while Xavier is partially based on Martin Luther King, Jr., Magneto is in part a derivative of Malcolm X. Magneto is similar to Che Guevara in being viewed as a martyr by many.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Ultimate Magneto
In the Ultimate Marvel comics, Magneto, a.k.a. Erik Lehnsherr's background differs greatly from his mainstream 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. Not only is he not 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. 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 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 unknowing 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.
[edit] Amalgam
In Amalgam Comics, Magneto leads the Magnetic Men who are merged versions of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and DC Comics' Metal Men.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the reality of the Age of Apocalypse (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 fulfill 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 techno-organic Apocalypse in half. Following this, Apocalypse's stronghold and most of North America are enveloped in nuclear bombs.
[edit] MC2
While he has yet to be seen in the MC2 comics, Magneto has inspired a few possible successors:
- Magneta- She is The Mistress of Magnetism. She made her first appearance in issue 6 of J2 wanting help to start her own proactive super hero team. She would later take up crime as a new member of The Revengers in Last Planet Standing.
- Charlie Philip- He first appeared in Spider-Girl #44, where he wanted to become a crime fighter with magnetic power (With a device he created to wear). He wanted to become Magneto, but without the bad attitude. He came across Spider-Girl when he tried to steal a superhero costume.
His second appearance was in Spider-Girl #92 where he tried to secure/steal funds to become a super hero, this time posing as Magneto. He is stopped by Spider-Girl and X-People member Push.
[edit] 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 the other reality by a zombie version of himself - part of a scheme by the zombies who, having decimated the human population, are now desperate for fresh living meat. After Richards escapes with some civilian survivors, Magneto stays behind as he is the only one capable of destroying Richards' 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.
[edit] 1602
In the alternate history of 1602, Magneto is known as Enrique, or the Grand Inquisitor, His 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 Petros (Quicksilver) and Sister Wanda (the Scarlet Witch), who are unaware of their parentage, although Enrique is, and chooses not to tell them. Enrique uses his position to further his needs and curry favour with influential figures, including King James of Scotland. Towards this end, he has all 'witchbreed' killed. While Enrique is attempting to have Angel killed, the witchbreed is rescued by Iceman and Cyclops. This does not deter Enrique, who continues on his path until 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, but Enrique escapes and pursues many of the other heroes to America. However, the New World is under the threat of impending doom, and Richard Reed determines that to restore balance, Enrique has to co-operate. With the help of Nick Fury and Thor, Enrique participates in the restoring of the world. He then tells his enemy, Carlos Javier, to train Petros and Wanda, and disappears.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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, who has both his magnetic powers and the white streak in his auburn hair. Magnus 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. The Exiles first mission involves a reality where all superpowered individuals have exterminated or imprisoned. They are instructed to save the one individual who can save this broken reality. They mistakenly release a totally evil and depraved version of Professor Xavier who uses his mental powers without remorse or mercy. Magnus dies on the team's mission after giving his life to stop a dangerous bomb set by the leader of high security prison. After the Exiles learn that Magnus' corpse is trapped inside the Crystal Palace, they free it and return it to his homeworld, where Magnus is buried by his parents.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] 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, he is the main villain. In all of these films, he wishes for mutant prosperity, but is not above battling the X-Men or killing innocents to do so. He attempts to mutate the world leaders in the first film, though he is unaware of its lethalness. In the second film he escapes from prison and becomes more ruthless, manipulating Xavier into killing humans (just after foiling William Stryker 's plan of vice versa). At the end of the third film, after attempting to destroy a mutant cure facility, Magneto is injected with the "cure" that strips him of his powers, however the final scenes indicate either it may not have had full effect on him or the cure may be wearing off (which suggests that the cure is not absolute and may soon do so for the other mutants who were "cured").
A Magneto movie is in the works, and Ian McKellen recently revealed that both he and Patrick Stewart might appear in it, thanks to de-aging technology (the same technology used on the two actors in the opening of X-Men: The Last Stand). 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."
[edit] 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 was the head villain in the animated X-Men pilot Pryde of the X-Men.
- Magneto's voice was provided by David Hemblen in the animated television series X-Men. In the series, he first appears in the third and fourth episodes where he launches a missile but it is stopped by the X-Men. Then he seeks to destroy a factory but is again stopped by the X-Men. In the first season finale, he helps the X-Men defeat the Master Mold and the Sentinels. He appears in nearly every episode in the second season, in which he and Professor Xavier are powerless and travel throughout the Savage Land. At the end of that season, all of the X-Men save them from Mr. Sinister, and they regain their powers. In fourth season, he helps defeat Apocalypse. Later, he lives on Asteroid M until it is destroyed. He does not care about even destroying mankind when Asteroid M is destroyed, until he receives news from the Beast, Forge, Mr. Sinister and a former Acolyte that his son, Quicksilver, has been kidnapped by the Phalnax. He teams up with them to defeat the Phalnax and saves everyone he had captured. By the end of the series, he has gathered up an entire army of rebellious mutants, but receives news from Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean Grey that Professor Xavier is dying. He has Xavier say his goodbyes to the X-Men before he dies. An alien then takes Xavier to her planet where there is a suggestion that he may be resurrected.
- Magneto's voice was provided by Christopher Judge in the animated television series X-Men: Evolution. During the show's first season he is a shadowy, mysterious manipulator, although he becomes a more direct threat from the first season finale. In the first season he uses his agent Mystique to assemble a team of mutants (the Brotherhood), and even recruits his own son Quicksilver to spy on them. In the first season finale, he pits the Brotherhood against the X-Men and brings the winners to Asteroid M. His decision to leave Mystique behind leads her to betray him (although flashbacks indicate that they have been at odds since Magneto separated Mystique from her newborn son Nightcrawler), and their vendetta lasts throughout the second season. In the second season, Magneto personally recruits a new team, the Acolytes, de-ages himself using the same technology that created Captain America, and finally reveals the existence of mutants to the public. In this time his daughter Wanda is introduced, who hates Magneto for abandoning her as a child. She hunts him down relentlessly until he uses the mutant Mastermind to change her memories, painting him in a new light. In the third and fourth seasons of the show, Magneto dedicates himself to preventing the awakening of the mutant Apocalypse, although all his attempts fail and upon Apocalypse's awakening he is transformed into one of his Four Horsemen. He is freed of this enslavement in the finale episode 'Ascension', and is last seen being helped by his two children. In the final moments of the episode, Charles Xavier reveals that he witnessed the future in the mind of Apocalypse, and among the visions he saw was Magneto becoming an ally of the X-Men.
[edit] Music
The album Venus and Mars by Wings includes a song about superheroes called "Magneto and Titanium Man". Paul McCartney was said in the Bullpen Bulletins to have toured the Marvel offices soon after the album came out, 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). In the song, the three supervillains try to convince the singer/narrator that a woman police officer trying to halt a bank robbery (which he is apparently in love with) is in fact the bank robber herself.
Another song to feature Magneto is the Tearjerkers' "Comic Book Heroes" from the various artists compilation 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.
In the song "Space Game" by MC Lars, Magneto is mentioned alongside a long list of other fictional characters who 'can't stop him'.
[edit] 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 the late 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.In X-Men 2: Clone Wars, Magneto served both as a boss and, for the first time in X-men video game history, as a playable character. Upon defeating him in the third level aboard Asteroid M, Magneto joins the X-Men when he discovers that his entire crew had been assimilated by the alien Phalanx invasion.
Magneto was one of the main villains in X-Men: Madness in Murderworld.
In the Quake conversion X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse, the player played a cyborg created by and working for Magneto.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Trivia
- 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,<ref name="RA">The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Erik Magnus Lehnsherr – Magneto. URL last checked 2006-05-31.</ref> until it was authoritatively confirmed that he is Jewish.<ref name="Protocols">Meth, Clifford. Protocols of the Elders of Marvel. URL last checked 2006-05-31.</ref> 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 villains 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.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Marvel Comics official biography of Magneto
- Marvel Comics official biography of Ultimate Magneto
- 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 Magnetoes:Magneto
fr:Magneto (comics) it:Magneto he:מגנטו (קומיקס) nl:Magneto pt:Magneto fi:Magneto sv:Magneto
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