- NOTE: This article is about the primary incarnation of Magneto from the X-Men film series. His alternate version can be found here: Magneto (2000s X-Men Movies). The mainstream version can be found here: Magneto (Marvel).
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| “ | You built these weapons to destroy us. Why? Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different, but I am here to tell you, to tell the world, you're right to fear us. We are the future. We are the ones who inherit this earth and anyone who stands in our way, will suffer the same fate as these men you see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world and to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this. No more hiding. No more suffering. You have lived in the shadows and shame and fear for too long. Come out. Join me. Fight together in a brotherhood of our kind, a new tomorrow that starts today. | „ |
| ~ Magneto unleashes the older Sentinels and convincing mutants to come out of hiding. |
Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, is the main antagonist of the X-Men film series.
He is an extremely powerful and ruthless mutant with the ability to manipulate all forms of magnetism and is the former archenemy of the X-Men. Following the deaths of his parents at a concentration camp at the hands of the Nazi mutant scientist Sebastian Shaw, Erik Lehnsherr set himself in using his powers to avenge his parents, coming across the mutant Charles Xavier. However, after stopping Shaw, Lehnsherr turned against Xavier and formed the Brotherhood of Mutants to oppose Xavier's X-Men, with both organizations set in making humanity accept mutankind, but through different methods.
He was portrayed by Michael Fassbender, who also played Burke in Jonah Hex, David 8 in the Alien prequels, Edwin Epps in 12 Years a Slave and the title character in the 2015 version of Macbeth.
Roles
He serves as one of two main protagonists of X-Men: First Class, the central antagonist of X-Men: Days of Future Past, a major antagonist of X-Men: Apocalypse and a major character in X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
Biography
Origin
Erik Lehnsherr being forcibly separated from his parents by Nazis.
Magneto starts out as young Erik Lehnsherr who is a Holocaust survivor. When he is persuaded by Dr. Klaus Schmidt to use his power of controlling metal, he refuses to, and tries desperately to when the villain points a gun at his mother. After Schmidt kills his mother, Erik gets enraged and bursts into a rage thus enabling his powers; he turned a filing cabinet inside-out, squeezed two guard's helmets to crush their brains and send loads of metal equipment in the neighboring surgery room flying in a murderous frenzy. Schmidt says that he will unlock his power and gives him a German 5-cent coin that he was meant to move around moments before.
Becoming Magneto
Years later, Erik searches for Schmidt and vows to kill him in his quest for revenge. First, he goes to a bank manager in Geneva, Switzerland and gets him to tell of Schmidt's location; Argentina. Next, Erik went to Argentina and killed three guys in a bar who knew where to find Schmidt. When he finds Schmidt (now calling himself Sebastian Shaw) aboard the ship Caspartina, he meets Charles Xavier, who assists him in the investigation of his plans of launching missiles onto Cuba thus triggering World War III. He starts a close friendship with Charles and a romantic relationship with his fostered sister Raven (Mystique). According to Charles, the two of them may have met earlier in life when they were 17.
When Erik (now dubbed Magneto) and Shaw finally come face to face in Shaw's submarine, Magneto destroys part of Shaw's telepathy shield, removes his helmet and allows Charles to paralyze him long enough to stop him. Unfortunately, Magneto dons the helmet to block Charles' mind. He reluctantly kills Shaw by placing a Nazi coin through his brain (while ignoring Charles' begging to stop).
Later on, the USSR and the US launched missiles at the mutants threatening to kill them and stopping World War III. Magneto takes control of the missiles thus turning them on their launchers. CIA agent Moria MacTaggert tries shooting at Magneto, but Magneto deflects the bullets accidentally paralyzing Charles' legs. He invites the rest of the mutants of the Hellfire Club and the other X-Men to join him in his quest to protect mutant-kind. The X-Men refuse but Mystique joins him and the rest of the Hellfire Club. At the climax of the film, Magneto and his newly formed Brotherhood of Mutants break Emma Frost out of her prison and asks her to join them.
The will of the Brotherhood
Erik was falsely-charged with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and was placed in a plastic prison with glass and concrete. The prison was right underneath the Pentagon, and was placed inside even though he had tried to bend the sniper-shot upwards and miss Kennedy. The reason he sought to save Kennedy was because he believed the President to be a mutant.
Saving humanity
| “ | I don't know karate, but I know crazy. | „ |
| ~ Erik Lensherr in X-Men: Days of Future Past |
He is one of the characters necessary to help change the future from the dystopia filled with Sentinels created by Dr. Bolivar Trask. He first appears as a prisoner held in the 100th floor below the Pentagon in a specially made cell. However, he gets freed with the aid of Charles Xavier, Wolverine, Beast, and Quicksilver. Magneto later tries to kill Mystique in Paris by putting a bullet into her, specifically her ankle, to ensure the mutant's future and survival, but fails to do so. Afterwards, a public showcase of the Sentinels at the White House is made to make sure that people will be kept safe from mutants.
However, Magneto has commandeered the Sentinels by inserting metal into their polymer bodies and also uses a lifted up stadium to keep other humans out of the way. Announcing mutant supremacy on live television, Magneto is attacked by Beast and Wolverine but keeps them at bay. However, when threatening the President, Mystique disguised as Nixon shoots him. After Mystique spares Trask at Xavier's urging, the Professor allows Mystique and Magneto to leave, believing that there is hope for both of them to change for the better.
The Horsemen of Apocalypse
Magneto standing with Apocalypse.
Magneto returns as the anti-hero once again. He tried to live like a normal human in Poland and worked in a factory under name Henryk. There he used his powers to save his colleague from a falling heavy metal bucket. However his colleague reported him to local police. When he was about to be arrested for his terrorist action one decade ago of the policemen accidentally shot his daughter and wife. Despaired Erik killed them all and returned to the factory to kill all his colleagues who ahd reported him to the police. There Apocalypse appeared with his Horsemen, all killed all Magneto's former colleagues before he had the chance to do so. Apocalypse then recruited Magneto as a Horseman of the Apocalypse under name "War". Magneto is then sent to the ruins of Auschwitz where he destroys the camp after remembering horrors that he had experienced as a young boy. He then appears in Cairo where he and the Horsemen assist Apocalypse in destroying civilization to remake the world in the image of Apocalypse but the X-Men come to save Charles. During the battle, Mystique arrives and tells Erik that he hasn't lost everything , convincing Erik to have a change of heart and turn on Apocalypse. After a brutal battle, Jean unleashes her powers on Apocalypse and destroyers his armor which allows Magneto to impale him and Jean to finally finish him off. He then helps rebuild the X-Mansion but leaves still being distrusting of humanity.
Seeking vengeance
Magneto returned in the film, where he took refuge in an uncharted island called Genosha, eventually using it as a haven for the remaining Brotherhood and other mutant refugees. When a young Jean Grey turns over to him for guidance after losing control of her Phoenix powers, Magneto was willing at first to help her out, but several soldiers arrive to the island to detain Jean, who almost tried to kill them. Knowing that putting the innocent soldiers in danger will put the other mutants in risk, Magneto angrily banishes Jean from the island.
Later on, Magneto and the other Brotherhood mutants conspired with Hank 'Beast' McCoy to kill Jean, since the latter's power killed Mystique, which left both Beast and Magneto very devastated. This leads to another battle between the X-Men and Brotherhood, though both factions (along with Jean) end up being arrested by the government. During a train transport to a secret mutant facility, Magneto was told that an alien warlord named Vuk has been manipulating Jean into using her powers for darker purposes as the former intends to drain it all to destroy all life on Earth (including the mutants) for her race the D'Bari. This was proven when Vuk sends her posse to attack the train and kill many of the soldiers so that she can drain all of Jean's powers for herself.
Deciding to put things aside, Magneto and the Brotherhood allied with the X-Men to take down the D'Bari soldiers, but they all end up being defeated by Vuk (who has previously obtained a portion of the Phoenix power); even when Magneto used his telepathy powers to fire all guns at Vuk, it proved to be in vain as Vuk was bulletproof thanks to the Phoenix power, much to Magneto's distraught. Eventually, Jean manages to kill Vuk by dragging her into outer space and using the Phoenix power to disintegrate her for good.
With Vuk and the D'Bari race gone, both the X-Men and Brotherhood put their feud aside, and Magneto reconciles his friendship with Xavier, who has retired and left Hank to become the new principal of Xavier's school. He is last seen playing with Xavier, unaware that Jean is still alive.
Ambiguous Fate
Magneto's whereabouts are unknown by the time of Logan, although it's implied he may be dead. It's possible due to his connection with Xavier that his first psychic seizure may have killed him. With Magneto gone, it seems like his Brotherhood of Mutants was also wiped out, as by the time the film takes place, only Wolverine, Xavier and Caliban are the sole surviving mutants before Wolverine discovers that the Essex Corp fabricated his "daughter" X-23 and many other mutant kids. That said, the sole existence of the Essex Corp, which, led by Dr. Zander Rice, sends Donald Pierce and his agents to track down the mutants to study and/or kill them, ultimately proves that, despite Xavier's faith in mankind, Magneto was tragically right on his beliefs: mutantkind would never be accepted by mankind.
Appearance
Magneto is a tall and slender light-skinned Jewish man with brown eyes. He often wears a leather suit with a black cape and numerous red accents, with dark-colored boots ideal for treading long distances.
Personality
| “ | All your life, the world has tried to tame you. It's time for you to be free. | „ |
| ~ Magneto to Mystique. |
Through his own righteous nature, Magneto is a justifiable, passionate and virtuous crusader of mutant rights and justice, dispersing both to anyone, human and mutant alike that may threaten his species and is willing to kill or sacrifice members of his own Brotherhood of Mutants for the survival of mutants in general. Having felt the prejudice and cruelty of humanity as a mutant and a Jew and firmly believing that co-existence is unobtainable between the two species, Magneto decreed that humanity must either evolve to match mutantkind's standards or be exterminated altogether. Similar to how the Nazis ripped the Jews from their homes and into the concentration camps, Magneto believes that humanity will attack without warning and that it is essential for mutants to strike first lest they be put through a similar Holocaust.
Magneto's vehement and relentless nature made him intolerant of other people's antics, especially when motivated by justice.
However, it should be noted that Magneto has at least had a relationship with a human which caused the birth of his son, Peter Maximoff. This also implies that he does not hate humanity but rather what humankind is capable of and this is not without reason in itself. With all mutants, Magneto is completely accepting regardless of their past actions or powers. Though he displayed a willingness to kill his own species if it was beneficial to the survival of his species in a whole, even Mystique, he displays deep remorse over doing such brutal acts, with the exclusion being Sebastian Shaw of course.
A significant driving force of Magneto, that is the primary motivation to most of his actions is how the prejudice of modern society and the people within it also enforces other mutants that their powers are a curse and that they should be ashamed of who they are. His romantic feelings for Mystique also solidified these beliefs, seeing her having to hide her natural blue form and Charles Xavier, her brother figure, encouraging this due to the hatred she would undoubtedly face, Magneto was the only one who told her to embrace who she truly was. Thinking it unfair that mutants had to hide on the basis that humanity would only fear what they could not understand, Magneto's beliefs of an idyllic society was a solely mutant one without human influence on how mutantkind should behave.
From a very young age, Erik Lehnsherr's humble and trial-filled origins have enabled him to identify with those whose suffering he seeks to alleviate, for the good of all.
For a large portion of his young adult life, though Magneto was not completely driven out of pure righteousness and devotion to his species, he was once greatly motivated by revenge and this was what led him to be a skilled Nazi-killer, hunting down anyone who participated in the capture and torture of Jews during the Holocaust. He hunted down and tortured former Nazis with connection to Klaus Schmidt, such as removing the golden tooth implants of a bank manager for information and brutally murders three others. His vicious determination over revenge led him to be almost suicidal as he continued his magnetic hold over Shaw's submarine, ignoring the fact that he would drown. Magneto's opinions seemed to change after he encountered Charles Xavier and opened his eyes to a world of mutants. For a while, he seemed to have quenched his initial driving point and now assisted with building Cerebro and locating other mutants. Ultimately, however, Magneto's desire of revenge proved to great and he painfully, slowly killed the man who murdered his mother before his eyes despite Xavier's protests which could be considered the turning point for Magneto's dark future.
Powers and Abilities
To be added.
Possessions
To be added.
Relationships
Family
- Edie Lehnsherr † - Mother
- Jakob Lehnsherr † - Father
- Ms. Maximoff - Former Lover
- Quicksilver - Son
- Magda Gurzsky † - Wife
- Nina Gurzsky † - Daughter
Friends
- Professor X - Best Friend, Former Teammate, and Former Rival
- Beast - Ally, Friend, Former Teammate, Former Enemy, and Former Attempted Killer
- Moira MacTaggert - Ally, Former Teammate, Former Enemy, and Former Attempted Victim
- Mystique + - Former Student, Former Teammate, Former Lover, Former Enemy, and Former Attempted Victim
- Storm - Ally and Former Teammate
- Wolverine - Former Ally and Former Enemy
- Brotherhood of Mutants - Former Teammates
- Angel Salvadore † - Former Student and Former Enemy
- Azazel † - Former Enemy
- Emma Frost † - Former Enemy
- Riptide - Former Enemy
- Cyclops - Ally and Former Enemy
- Jean Grey - Ally, Friend and Former Enemy
- Nightcrawler - Ally and Former Enemy
- Banshee † - Former Student and Former Teammate
- Darwin † - Former Student and Former Teammate
- John McCone † - Former Ally
- The Man in Black † - Former Ally
- William Stryker Snr. † - Former Ally
Enemies
- Apocalypse † - Savior and Leader turned Enemy
- Havok † - Former Student and Former Teammate turned Enemy
- Sebastian Shaw † - Enemy, Torturer, and Victim
- Bolivar Trask - Enemy
- Richard Nixon † - Enemy and Attempted Victim
- Swiss Bank Manager - Enemy
- William Stryker - Enemy
- D'Bari † - Enemies
- Vuk † - Enemy
Reception
Magneto was a critically acclaimed character, despite also garnering negative attention from less astute viewers. Michael Fassbender received global critical acclaim for his performance.
Trivia
- At the original Marvel continuity of X-Men, Magneto was born as Max Eisenhardt and not as Erik Lensherr, even if he adopted this name as an alias.
- At the time of the first installment's creation process, the name Erik Lensherr was used to give the character a Gypsy heritage to avoid "demonizing" the Jewish Holocaust survivor community.
- The number tattooed on Erik's hand is 214782.
- The tattooed number was first shown on Uncanny X-Men #150, written by Chris Claremont in 1981.
- Following the announcement of the production beginning of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that was released on 2009, there was many other plans for a solo film focused on the character titled X-Men Origins: Magneto. This film was planned to be focused on a young Erik being liberated from the Nazi camps by his best friend; Charles Xavier, an allied American soldier. However, due to the extreme poor critical reaction to Origins Wolverine despite its box office success ($373 million), coupled with the Writer's Guild of America strike, the project of Magneto was pitted on indefinite hiatus and eventually was ultimately cancelled and the most of the working script had been amalgamated into Matthew Vaughn's prequel X-Men film from 2011; X-Men: First Class.
- In X-Men Days of Future Past, Magneto's prison identification number is 0001.
- According to some reports, Michael Fasbender actually reprised his role by portraying an Earth-838 variant of Magneto in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though his scenes were ultimately cut from the theatrical release despite being filmed. The scenes would have revealed that after the execution of Earth-838's Doctor Strange, the Illuminati performed a lobotomy on their Wanda Maximoff to prevent her from becoming the Scarlet Witch that Doctor Strange had prophesied before his death, leading Professor X to ask for permission to Wanda's father, who would have been Magneto just like in the comics. These scenes were reportedly deleted because they deviated too much from the film's story and made the Illuminati look like villains.
External Links
- Magneto on the Heroes Wiki
