Magneto (Marvel Comics) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Max EisenhardtMagneto |
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Variant cover of X-Men: Black - Magneto #1 (September 2018).
Art by J. Scott Campbell. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The X-Men #1 (September 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (writer/artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Max Eisenhardt |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Team affiliations | Brotherhood of Mutants X-Men New Mutants Hellfire Club Acolytes Astonishing Avengers Quiet Council of Krakoa Great Ring of Arakko Brotherhood of Arakko |
| Notable aliases | Magnus Erik Lehnsherr Inmate 214782 White King (later Grey King) of the Hellfire Club Michael Xavier Erik the Red Henryk Gurzsky White Pilgrim |
| Abilities |
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Magneto ( birth name: Max Eisenhardt; alias: Erik Lehnsherr and Magnus; Auschwitz tattoo: 214782) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (cover-dated September 1963) as an adversary of the X-Men.
Magneto is a powerful mutant, one of a fictional subspecies of humanity born with superhuman abilities, who has the ability to generate and control magnetic fields. Magneto regards mutants as evolutionarily superior to humans and rejects the possibility of peaceful human-mutant coexistence; he initially aimed to conquer the world to enable mutants, whom he refers to as Homo superior, to replace humans as the dominant species, and occasionally advocated for human genocide. Writers have since fleshed out his origins and motivations, revealing him to be a Holocaust survivor whose extreme methods and cynical philosophy derive from his "Never again" determination to protect mutants from suffering a similar fate to the European Jews at the hands of a world that fears and persecutes them. He was once a friend of Professor X, the leader of the X-Men, but their different philosophies sometimes cause a rift in their friendship. Magneto's role in comics has progressed from supervillain to antihero to superhero, having served as an occasional ally and member of the X-Men, even leading the New Mutants for a time as headmaster of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.
Writer Chris Claremont, who originated Magneto's backstory, modeled the character on then-Israeli opposition leader Menachem Begin, with later commentators comparing the character with the American civil rights leader Malcolm X and Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane.
Ian McKellen has portrayed Magneto in various films since X-Men in 2000, while Michael Fassbender has portrayed a younger version of the character in the prequel films since X-Men: First Class in 2011. Both actors portrayed their respective incarnations in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Magneto appears in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992) voiced by David Hemblen and its sequel X-Men '97 (2024) voiced by Matthew Waterson.
Cultural impact and legacy
Accolades
- In 2006, Wizard Magazine ranked Magneto 17th in their "Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever" list.
- In 2008, Wizard Magazine ranked Magneto 9th in their "Top 200 Comics Characters Of All Time" list.
- In 2014, IGN ranked Magneto 1st in their "Top 100 Comic Book Villains" list.
- In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Magneto 20th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.
- In 2019, IGN ranked Magneto 2nd in their "Top 25 Marvel Villains" list.
- In 2019, CBR.com ranked Magneto 3rd in their "X-Men: The 5 Deadliest Members Of The Hellfire Club (& The 5 Weakest)" list.
- In 2020, Screen Rant included Magneto in their "Marvel: 25 Most Powerful Mutants" list.
- In 2022, Digital Trends ranked Magneto 8th in their "Marvel's most powerful mutants" list.
- In 2022, The Mary Sue ranked Magneto 4th in their "8 Most Powerful Marvel Mutants" list.
- In 2022, CBR.com ranked Magneto 11th in their "13 Most Important Marvel Villains" list.
- In 2022, Newsarama ranked Magneto 5th in their "Best Marvel supervillains" list.
- In 2023, CBR.com ranked Magneto 9th in their "10 Most Popular Marvel Characters" list.
- In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Magneto 20th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.
