# Magneto (Marvel Comics)
**Magneto** is a fictional character in [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics), a mutant with the ability to control magnetism and electromagnetic fields, created by writer [Stan Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/stan-lee) and artist [Jack Kirby](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-kirby). He debuted in September 1963 in *X-Men* #1 as the founding team's first enemy, and over more than 60 years of publishing he has been portrayed as a villain, a hero, and positions between the two.[1](https://www.mycomicscollection.com/en/blog/magneto-comics-history/) • [2](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/marvel-comics-nycc-announcements-peter-parker-and-miles-morales-fall-out-new-captain-marvel-and-much-more/) He is known as the Master of Magnetism and, in the live-action films, as Erik Lehnsherr.[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | *X-Men* #1, September 1963, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby[1](https://www.mycomicscollection.com/en/blog/magneto-comics-history/) |
| Power | Control over magnetism and electromagnetic fields, including lifting a 30,000-ton submarine, resisting a nuclear detonation, generating wormholes for space travel, and supersonic flight[4](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22350/what-are-the-limits-of-magnetos-magnetic-field) |
| Signature backstory | Holocaust survivor; revealed in *Uncanny X-Men* #150 (1981)[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) |
| Known aliases | Magnus, Erik Lehnsherr (films), Max Eisenhardt[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) |
| Defining relationship | Ideological opposite of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men[5](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/x-men/in-comics) |
| Notable feats | Lifted a 30,000-ton submarine; stripped the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton[4](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22350/what-are-the-limits-of-magnetos-magnetic-field) |
| Upcoming comic | *Magneto: End of Days*, an eight-issue limited series by Brian Michael Bendis and Andrea Sorrentino, starting February 2027[2](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/marvel-comics-nycc-announcements-peter-parker-and-miles-morales-fall-out-new-captain-marvel-and-much-more/) |
## Creation and early portrayal
Magneto appeared alongside [Professor X](https://www.edgepedia.org/professor-x) and the original X-Men in *X-Men* #1, and the first issue's cover billed him as "Earth's Most Powerful Super Villain."[1](https://www.mycomicscollection.com/en/blog/magneto-comics-history/) • [6](https://physics.nyu.edu/~cs3006/ISC/Past_Talks_Autumn2012/2_Geoff/09-21_Geoff_-_A_Brief_History_of_Comics.pdf) In these early stories he led the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, first named in *X-Men* #4, and was written as a fairly straightforward villain who believed that mutants, Homo superior, were more genetically advanced than Homo sapiens and should rule them.[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) • [7](https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/xavier-magneto-martin-luther-king-malcolm-x-marvel-comics/) Marvel's own character page describes him as the X-Men's very first foe and the ideological opposite of their founder.[5](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/x-men/in-comics)
## The Claremont transformation
**Chris Claremont's tenure** changed the character fundamentally. When Claremont took over as writer of *Uncanny X-Men* with the title's revival in 1975, Magneto's demeanor shifted; he seemed dismayed at having to kill to save other mutants, and he gained a conscience.[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) A scholarly analysis of the character notes that the X-Men comics of the late 1970s and 1980s used the legacy of the Holocaust as a means to transform Magneto from villain to hero, partly in response to contemporary American observances of the Holocaust.[8](https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/a-likely-jew-magneto-the-holocaust-and-comic-book-history/)
The backstory itself arrived in *Uncanny X-Men* #150 in 1981. After nearly killing the teenage [Kitty Pryde](https://www.edgepedia.org/kitty-pryde), Magneto describes growing up in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and losing his entire family, and he begins to wonder whether he has become the monster he hated as a child.[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) The same scholarly account records that earlier comics refrained from identifying Magneto as a Jew outright until X-Men: Magneto Testament (2008) explicitly identified him as Jewish, producing what the author calls a controversial paradox, a character who was both Nazi and Jew.[8](https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/a-likely-jew-magneto-the-holocaust-and-comic-book-history/) • [21](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/21976/slug) Later comics, including Cullen Bunn's 2014 *Magneto* series, made the Holocaust survivor identity explicit and used flashbacks to Auschwitz to explore what it means to survive such an atrocity.[9](https://comicbook.com/comicbook/news/review-magneto-9/)
Claremont also gave Magneto a family tragedy: his daughter Anya was burnt to death by anti-mutant bigots, leading his wife Magda to leave him.[10](https://comicbook.com/comics/feature/magneto-has-become-the-perfect-x-man-and-thats-exactly-the-problem/) In *Uncanny X-Men* #200, Magneto joined the Xavier Institute, taking over as headmaster of the school and guiding the [New Mutants](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-mutants).[10](https://comicbook.com/comics/feature/magneto-has-become-the-perfect-x-man-and-thats-exactly-the-problem/) • [11](https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/03/x-men-monday-209-j-m-dematteis-magneto/)
## Powers
Magneto's primary power is control over magnetism and electromagnetic fields. Documented feats include lifting a 30,000-ton submarine from the ocean depths, resisting the force of a nuclear detonation, manipulating electromagnetic fields to generate wormholes for space travel, and forcefully stripping the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton, an event Marvel's own reading list also cites.[4](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22350/what-are-the-limits-of-magnetos-magnetic-field) • [12](https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/1038/magneto) By connecting himself to the [Earth's magnetic field](https://www.edgepedia.org/earths-magnetic-field) he can fly at supersonic speeds.[4](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22350/what-are-the-limits-of-magnetos-magnetic-field)
His limits vary by writer. Paramagnetic metals such as aluminum and titanium respond only faintly to magnetic fields, and vibranium's energy-absorbing properties could interfere with magnetic manipulation, but multiple writers have ignored such limitations over the years; at high power levels the distinction between ferromagnetic and non-magnetic metals barely matters in his depiction.[13](https://scienceinsights.org/what-metals-cant-magneto-control-marvel-canon/)
## Hero, villain, and the "Magneto was right" debate
Magneto's allegiance has shifted repeatedly. After losing his powers in *House of M*, he regained them and joined the X-Men on Utopia, using his powers to pull Kitty Pryde back to Earth and kneeling before Cyclops to proclaim him leader of the mutant race; he later served on the Quiet Council during the Krakoa era.[10](https://comicbook.com/comics/feature/magneto-has-become-the-perfect-x-man-and-thats-exactly-the-problem/) • [14](https://comicbook.com/comics/news/is-magneto-better-hero-villain-x-men-mcu/) In the Krakoan period, Magneto and other X-Men helped build a mutant home on Mars, which they renamed Arakko.[15](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/x-men-mutants-mars-arakko-explained?linkId=200643852)
The phrase **"Magneto was right"** entered the comics in *New X-Men* (2001) #135 by [Grant Morrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/grant-morrison) and [Frank Quitely](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-quitely), where his empty helmet, after his apparent death in the destruction of the mutant nation Genosha, became a symbol of mutant resistance paired with the slogan.[16](https://www.marvel.com/amp/articles/comics/magneto-helmet-significance-explained) Commentators disagree on how to read the character. One ComicBook.com essay argues that Grant Morrison's "Planet X" story deliberately showed Magneto as a supremacist with the same disregard for human lives that bigoted humans hold for mutant lives, while another argues he works best as a villain or antagonist because the X-Men otherwise lack a defined archenemy.[14](https://comicbook.com/comics/news/is-magneto-better-hero-villain-x-men-mcu/) A separate analysis cautions against the common comparison of Xavier and Magneto to [Martin Luther King Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-luther-king-jr) and Malcolm X, noting that Claremont cited both men as inspirations but that the pairing assigns villainous connotations to Malcolm X's work and caricatures his beliefs.[7](https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/xavier-magneto-martin-luther-king-malcolm-x-marvel-comics/)
## Adaptations and current projects
Magneto has been a fixture of X-Men screen adaptations. In the 2000 film *X-Men*, [Ian McKellen](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-mckellen) introduced Erik Lehnsherr as a mutant who believes humans and mutants can never coexist, leading the [Brotherhood](https://www.edgepedia.org/brotherhood) against Xavier's X-Men; the chess games between Magneto and Xavier recur across five X-Men films.[17](https://time.com/5600674/dark-phoenix-ending-explained/) McKellen is reprising the role in *Avengers: Doomsday*, telling [Stephen Colbert](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-colbert) that in the film "Magneto destroys New Jersey."[18](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/x-men-star-ian-mckellen-teases-magneto-role-in-avengers-doomsday-in-the-most-hilarious-way-im-putting-on-a-fierce-look-and-im-trying-to-be-magnetic/) In the animated series *X-Men '97*, Magneto takes over mentorship of the X-Men from Charles Xavier, a storyline drawn from the comics, and Marvel's role-playing game material for the series notes his Savage Land history of creating a race of Mutates and his romantic involvement with Rogue.[3](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/) • [19](https://cdn.marvel.com/u/prod/marvel/i/pdf/MMRPG_XMen97_20240517.pdf)
On the page, Marvel announced at New York Comic Con that *Magneto: End of Days*, an eight-issue limited series written by [Brian Michael Bendis](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-michael-bendis) with art by Andrea Sorrentino, will begin in February 2027, recapping key events from Magneto's personal history with each issue told from a different point of view. Bendis called Magneto "one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's best creations."[2](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/marvel-comics-nycc-announcements-peter-parker-and-miles-morales-fall-out-new-captain-marvel-and-much-more/) For Marvel Studios' upcoming *X-Men* film, scheduled for May 5, 2028, the cast has been announced for other characters, but no Magneto casting has been named.[20](https://www.gamesradar.com/upcoming-marvel-movies-shows/)
## References
1. [Magneto Comics: 10 Key Issues to Collect, 1963 to Krakoa, My Comics Collection](https://www.mycomicscollection.com/en/blog/magneto-comics-history/)
2. [Marvel Comics NYCC announcements, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/marvel-comics-nycc-announcements-peter-parker-and-miles-morales-fall-out-new-captain-marvel-and-much-more/)
3. [Magneto's Evolution From X-MEN Villain to Hero (and Back Again), Nerdist](https://nerdist.com/article/magneto-marvel-comics-history-relationship-with-charles-xavier/)
4. [What are the limits of Magneto's magnetic field?, Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22350/what-are-the-limits-of-magnetos-magnetic-field)
5. [X-Men In Comics: Members, Enemies, Powers, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/x-men/in-comics)
6. [A Brief History of Comics: The Silver Age, NYU](https://physics.nyu.edu/~cs3006/ISC/Past_Talks_Autumn2012/2_Geoff/09-21_Geoff_-_A_Brief_History_of_Comics.pdf)
7. [Xavier & Magneto: Great Characters, Terrible Analogs, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/xavier-magneto-martin-luther-king-malcolm-x-marvel-comics/)
8. [Smith, Scott Thompson (2017). A likely jew: Magneto, the holocaust, and comic-book history. Studies in American Jewish Literature 36(1), 1-39.](https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/a-likely-jew-magneto-the-holocaust-and-comic-book-history/)
9. [REVIEW: Magneto #9, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/comicbook/news/review-magneto-9/)
10. [Magneto Has Become the Perfect X-Man and That's Exactly the Problem, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/comics/feature/magneto-has-become-the-perfect-x-man-and-thats-exactly-the-problem/)
11. [X-Men Monday #209 - J.M. DeMatteis Talks 'Magneto', AIPT](https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/03/x-men-monday-209-j-m-dematteis-magneto/)
12. [Magneto | Character Close Up, Marvel Comic Reading List](https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/1038/magneto)
13. [What Metals Can't Magneto Control? Marvel Canon, ScienceInsights](https://scienceinsights.org/what-metals-cant-magneto-control-marvel-canon/)
14. [Is Magneto Better as a Hero or a Villain?, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/comics/news/is-magneto-better-hero-villain-x-men-mcu/)
15. [A History of Mutants on Mars, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/x-men-mutants-mars-arakko-explained?linkId=200643852)
16. [The Significance of Magneto's Helmet, Explained, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/amp/articles/comics/magneto-helmet-significance-explained)
17. [Let's Talk About the Ending of Dark Phoenix, TIME](https://time.com/5600674/dark-phoenix-ending-explained/)
18. [Ian McKellen teases Magneto role in Avengers: Doomsday, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/x-men-star-ian-mckellen-teases-magneto-role-in-avengers-doomsday-in-the-most-hilarious-way-im-putting-on-a-fierce-look-and-im-trying-to-be-magnetic/)
19. [MAGNETO (X-MEN '97) character sheet, Marvel](https://cdn.marvel.com/u/prod/marvel/i/pdf/MMRPG_XMen97_20240517.pdf)
20. [Upcoming Marvel movies and shows for 2026 and beyond, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/upcoming-marvel-movies-shows/)
21. [X-Men: Magneto Testament (2008) #1, Comic Issues, Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/21976/slug)
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