Disassembled: Heroes and Villains

Why The World Made Magneto and Then Feared The Monster It Created - Marvel Comic Deep Dive

• Tom Bedford of Handsome Comics • Season 1 • Episode 12

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They called him many names.

Mutant. Terrorist. Savior. Monster.


But before all of that—he was a boy. A survivor of humanity’s darkest chapter, who lived to see history repeat itself against his own kind. From those ashes, Magneto rose. Not as a symbol of peace, but as a warning.


In this episode of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains, we uncover the tragic legacy of Erik Lehnsherr, better known as Magneto. From his pain in Auschwitz to his crusade against humanity, his journey is not one of villainy alone—but of survival, vengeance, and the desperate need to ensure mutantkind never suffers as he once did.


Was he the X-Men’s greatest enemy?

Or the only one who truly understood the cost of being hated?


We explore:

– His origin as a Holocaust survivor and the scars it left

– His evolution from revolutionary to ruler, from Brotherhood to Genosha

– His complex, conflicted bond with Charles Xavier

– And why Magneto embodies both the hope and the fear of mutantkind’s future


Because Magneto didn’t simply become a monster.

He survived one—

And the world has lived with the consequences ever since.


🔥 New episodes of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains every Thursday


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🎙 Written and hosted by Tom Bedford | Handsome Comics


WHAT MAKES A MAN BECOME THE THING HE FEARS? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEACE DIES AND THE WAR GOES ON INSIDE YOU? YOU'VE SEEN HIM ON THE SILVER SCREEN, IN FIRST CLASS, WHERE VENGEANCE TAKES ROOT. IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, WHERE REGRET MEETS RESOLVE. AND IN X-MEN THE ANIMATED SERIES, WHERE A SYMBOL BECOMES A LEGEND. BUT LONG BEFORE HE WAS MAGNETO, HE WAS MAX EISENHARDT. A BOY WITH SILVER EYES, HIDING IN THE ASH OF A WORLD THAT HATED HIM. THEY TOOK EVERYTHING, HIS FAMILY, HIS FUTURE, HIS FAITH IN HUMANITY. AND FROM THAT BROKEN CHILD, A NEW MAN ROSE, FORGED IN THE FIRES OF HUMANITY'S GREATEST ATROCITY, TEMPERED BY LOSS, DRIVEN NOT BY HATRED, BUT BY THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IT WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN. HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A VILLAIN, HE WANTED TO BE READY. BECAUSE WHEN THE WORLD FEARS YOU, THEY DON'T WAIT FOR PERMISSION TO DESTROY YOU, THEY STRIKE FIRST. AND IF THAT'S THE WORLD'S TRUTH, THEN MAGNETO WOULD BECOME THE WEAPON IT FEARED. NOT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO, BUT BECAUSE HE HAD NO OTHER CHOICE. THIS IS DISASSEMBLED, HEROES AND VILLAINS, AND TODAY, WE FOLLOW MAGNETO, A MAN WHO TRIED TO WARN US OF THE DANGERS IN THE DARKEST CORNERS OF THE WORLD. A BOY TURNED SOLDIER, TURNED SAVIOR, AND THEN TURNED SYMBOL. TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, DID MAGNETO TRULY HAVE A CHOICE, OR WAS HE SIMPLY DOING WHAT HE MUST, TO STOP THE MONSTERS HE HAD SEEN? TO UNDERSTAND MAGNETO, YOU HAVE TO START WITH THE BOY. NOT THE WARRIOR, NOT THE REVOLUTIONARY, NOT EVEN THE MUTANT. JUST MAX. A QUIET KID IN 1930S GERMANY, BORN INTO A WORLD THAT WOULD SOON TEAR ITSELF APART. YOU'VE SEEN GLIMPSES OF IT. IN FIRST CLASS, WHERE THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM HUNTS THE MEN WHO STOLE HIS CHILDHOOD. IN X-MEN THE ANIMATED SERIES, WHERE FLASHES OF STRIPED UNIFORMS AND BARBED WIRE HAUNT HIS MEMORIES. BUT NO MATTER THE MEDIUM, COMIC, SCREEN, OR ANIMATION, MAGNETO'S PAIN IS CONSTANT. IT'S THE THREAD THAT BINDS EVERY VERSION. BECAUSE BEFORE THERE WAS POWER, BEFORE THERE WAS VENGEANCE, THERE WAS MERELY SURVIVAL. BEFORE THE HELMET, BEFORE THE WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND MUTANTS, THERE WAS A BOY NAMED. MAX EISENHARDT. HE WAS INTELLIGENT, GENTLE, THE KIND OF CHILD WHO MARVELED AT THE WORLD AROUND HIM, WHO STUDIED WITH CURIOSITY, NOT MALICE. BUT IN 1930S GERMANY, NO AMOUNT OF KINDNESS COULD SAVE YOU FROM WHAT WAS COMING. MAX WAS JEWISH, AND THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK. AT SCHOOL, HIS TEACHERS TURNED ON HIM. CLASSMATES WHO ONCE SAT BESIDE HIM WHISPERED BEHIND HIS BACK, OR WORSE, JOINING THE MOCKING CHANTS. THE VERY FABRIC OF NORMAL LIFE FRAYED, UNTIL ONLY FEAR REMAINED. IN X-MEN MAGNETO TESTAMENT, WE SEE HIS LIFE UNRAVELING IN PAINFUL DETAIL. MAX WATCHES HIS FATHER BEATEN IN THE STREET. HE'S FORCED TO DIG HIS OWN FAMILY'S GRAVE. HE WATCHES HIS FIRST LOVE TAKEN FROM HIM, SHOT IN THE SNOW. AND EVENTUALLY, HE'S SENT TO AUSCHWITZ. BUT THIS ISN'T A SUPERVILLAIN ORIGIN STORY. NOT QUITE YET. THIS IS THE STORY OF A BOY WHO SURVIVED HELL. THROUGH CUNNING. THROUGH INSTINCT. THROUGH AN UNSHAKABLE WILL TO LIVE. HE ENDURES STARVATION, FORCED LABOR, AND THE SYSTEMATIC DEHUMANIZATION OF AN ENTIRE PEOPLE. HE LEARNS TO SPEAK GERMAN FLUENTLY. HE BENDS THE RULES WITHOUT BREAKING THEM. HE OBSERVES, ADAPTS, AND SURVIVES. NOT BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE STRONG, BUT BECAUSE WEAKNESS MEANS DEATH. IN ISSUES LIKE CLASSIC X-MEN ISSUE 12 AND UNCANNY X-MEN ISSUE 150, WE SEE AN OLDER MAGNETO REFLECT ON THIS PAIN. HE DOESN'T HIDE IT. HE DOESN'T EXCUSE WHAT HE'S BECOME. BECAUSE THAT'S THE TRUTH THAT HAUNTS MAX EISENHARDT. NOT THAT HUMANITY IS CRUEL, BUT THAT CRUELTY IS TOLERATED. THAT THE WORLD WATCHED WHILE MONSTERS ROSE AND DID NOTHING. THIS ISN'T JUST THE TRAUMA RESPONSE SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD FORCED TO GROW UP IN THE WORST CONDITIONS HUMANITY HAS SEEN. IT'S A TRUTH THAT HE COULD NEVER FORGET. A BOY WHO LEARNS THE WORLD WON'T PROTECT YOU OFTEN GROWS INTO A MAN WHO BELIEVES HE MUST PROTECT OTHERS BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. AND WHEN WE SEE HIM IN FIRST CLASS, HUNTING THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GENOCIDE THAT STOLE HIS YOUTH, IT ISN'T REVENGE WE'RE WATCHING. IT'S A TRANSFORMATION INTO THE MAN WHO HE NEEDED WHILE CLINGING TO LIFE IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP. BECAUSE MAX EISENHARDT DID DIE IN AUSCHWITZ, NOT HIS PHYSICAL BODY, BUT THE BOY HE WAS. WHAT CAME OUT WAS SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING SHARPER, SOMETHING STRONGER, SOMETHING THAT REMEMBERED. AND IF THE WORLD WOULD NOT PROTECT THE INNOCENT, THEN THAT BURDEN WOULD FALL ON HIM, EVEN IF IT MEANT BECOMING THE THING HE FEARED MOST. BUT SURVIVAL COMES WITH A COST. MAX EISENHARDT MAY HAVE ESCAPED THE CAMPS WITH HIS LIFE, BUT THE BOY WHO BELIEVED IN PEACE, HE DIDN'T MAKE IT OUT. WHAT ROSE FROM THE ASHES WASN'T JUST A SURVIVOR, IT WAS A WARNING TO HIS OPPRESSORS AND THE WORLD. A MAN WHO HAD SEEN THE ABYSS, AND KNEW WHAT IT MEANT WHEN THE WORLD LOOKED AWAY. AND WHEN HUMANITY BEGAN HUNTING MUTANTS IN THE DECADES TO COME, HE DIDN'T ASK WHY. HE ASKED, WHEN DOES IT BEGIN AGAIN? BECAUSE MAGNINO HAD LEARNED THE TRUTH, A TRUTH HE WOULD CARVE INTO HISTORY WITH ALL HIS MIGHT. PEACE WITHOUT POWER TO DEFEND, IS WEAKNESS IN DISGUISE. THE WORLD CALLED HIM A TERRORIST, BUT IN HIS MIND, HE WASN'T THE VILLAIN, HE WAS THE ANSWER. AN ANSWER FORGED IN FIRE, HARDENED BY THE MEMORY OF HIS LOST CHILDHOOD, AND DELIVERED WITH FORCE. IF THE WORLD FEARED MUTANTS, THEN FEAR WOULD BE THEIR WEAPON. LIKE ANOTHER METAL TYRANT FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE, HE CAME TO BELIEVE IN PEACE, BUT ONLY THROUGH TYRANNY. AND SO, WITH THE FORMATION OF THE BROTHERHOOD, WITH EACH CLASH AGAINST XAVIER'S DREAMS, WITH EVERY STRIKE DELIVERED BEFORE THE WORLD COULD STRIKE FIRST, MAGNETO BEGAN HIS WAR, NOT JUST AGAINST HUMANITY, BUT AGAINST THE NAIVE HOPE THAT PEACE COULD EVER COME WITHOUT POWER. HE TRIED PEACE. HE TRIED HOPE. HE EVEN TRIED CHARLES XAVIER. BUT THE WORLD HAD ALREADY MADE UP ITS MIND. TO MAGNETO, PEACE WAS NEVER TRULY PEACE. IT WAS COMPLIANCE. IT WAS CONTROL. IT WAS WAITING TO BE WIPED OUT BY THE NEXT WAVE OF HATE. AND SO, HE CHANGED. HE BUILT THE BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL MUTANTS. NOT AS VILLAINS, BUT AS SENTINELS. GUARDIANS. SOLDIERS IN A WAR NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO ADMIT HAD ALREADY BEGUN. WAS IT TERRORISM? WITHOUT A DOUBT. BUT TO MAGNETO, THE QUESTION WASN'T WHAT HE DID, IT WAS WHY. WHY TREAT THE WORLD FAIRLY WHEN IT REFUSED TO TREAT YOU WITH THE SAME DIGNITY? BECAUSE IF HUMANITY WOULD NEVER ACCEPT MUTANTS, THEN THE ONLY LOGICAL RESPONSE WAS DOMINATION. NOT CRUELTY. NOT GENOCIDE. CONTROL. TO HIM, IT WAS PREEMPTIVE SURVIVAL. BECAUSE WAITING FOR KINDNESS HAD GOTTEN HIS PEOPLE KILLED BEFORE. MAGNETO'S WAR AGAINST PROFESSOR X WAS NEVER JUST IDEOLOGICAL, IT WAS PERSONAL. WHERE CHARLES SAW POTENTIAL, MAGNETO SAW A TRAP. A DREAM THAT ONLY WORKED IF YOU IGNORED HISTORY. TO CHARLES, THE DREAM WAS A SANCTUARY. TO MAX, IT WAS A COFFIN. THEIR FALLOUT BEGINS IN THE BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL MUTANTS, WHERE MAGNETO'S LEADERSHIP TAKES FORM. A GROUP CREATED NOT OUT OF MALICE, BUT URGENCY. TOAD, QUICKSILVER, SCARLET WITCH. THEY WERE MORE THAN FOOT SOLDIERS. THEY WERE THE FUTURE HE HOPED TO PROTECT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. BUT EVEN IN THESE EARLY DAYS, THE CRACK SHOWED. IN THE STORY, I, MAGNETO, THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM NEARLY DESTROYS THE WORLD. NOT BECAUSE HE WANTS TO, BUT BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HE MUST. HE GIVES THE WORLD AN ULTIMATUM. RECOGNIZE MUTANT SOVEREIGNTY, OR PERISH. IT'S NOT A TANTRUM. IT'S A CALCULATED ACT OF TERROR MEANT TO PREVENT GENOCIDE. IN HIS MIND, IT'S A MERCY. A WARNING SHOT INSTEAD OF AN EXTINCTION EVENT. THERE IS PAIN BENEATH THE FURY. EVERY TIME HE RAISES HIS HAND, IT'S THE TREMBLING HAND OF A CHILD WHO REMEMBERS WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME HE STAYED SILENT. BECAUSE IN MAGNETO'S MIND, SILENCE IS SURRENDER, AND SURRENDER GETS HIS PEOPLE KILLED. THIS IS WHERE THE COMPARISON TO MEGATRON BECOMES SO EERILY APT. IN MANY CONTINUITIES, MEGATRON, LIKE MAGNETO, WAS ONCE A REVOLUTIONARY, A MINER, A GLADIATOR. SOMEONE WHO SAW THE CRUELTY OF A SYSTEM AND CHOSE TO TEAR IT DOWN. BOTH BEGAN WITH HOPE. BOTH TURNED TO VIOLENCE. BOTH BELIEVED THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE THEIR KIND WAS TO RULE. PEACE THROUGH TYRANNY, MEGATRON WOULD SAY. MAGNETO NEVER USED THOSE WORDS, BUT HE LIVED BY THE SAME CREED. EVEN IN X-MEN 97, WHEN MAGNETO WAS INVITED TO LEAD THE X-MEN IN XAVIER'S ABSENCE, IT ISN'T A CONTRADICTION, IT'S A CULMINATION OF HIS EFFORTS. HE ISN'T A CHANGED MAN, HE IS THE SAME MAN, EVOLVED THROUGH PAIN. THE MAN WHO ONCE DECLARED WAR ON HUMANITY, NOW STANDS BESIDE ITS PROTECTORS. NOT BECAUSE HE FORGAVE THE WORLD, BUT BECAUSE HE REFUSES TO LET IT WIN. SOME CALL IT HYPOCRISY, BUT TO MAGNETO, IT'S SURVIVAL. HE BELIEVES IN POWER THROUGH STRENGTH. BECAUSE PEACE, WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO DEFEND ONESELF, IS JUST WEAKNESS IN DISGUISE. AND THE WORLD DOESN'T REWARD WEAKNESS, IT ERADICATES IT. SO IF THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT MUTANTKIND IS TO BE FEARED, THEN LET THEM FEAR HIM. BECAUSE MAGNETO NEVER WANTED TO BE A MONSTER. BUT IF THE WORLD DEMANDS ONE, HE'LL GIVE THEM A MONSTER WHO PROTECTS HIS OWN. BEFORE WE RETURN TO MAGNETO'S WAR BETWEEN PEACE AND POWER MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW OR SUBSCRIBE TO DISASSEMBLED HEROES AND VILLAINS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP EACH WEEK WE PULL BACK THE MASK WHETHER IT'S WORN BY A HERO A VILLAIN OR SOMEONE CAUGHT IN BETWEEN AND NEXT WEEK WE SHIFT FROM REVOLUTION TO RESPONSIBILITY A SOLDIER BUILT FOR BATTLE A LEADER BURDENED BY LEGACY A WARRIOR WHO NEVER WON A COMMAND BUT CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF IT ANYWAY NEXT WEEK WE MARCH ALONGSIDE ULTRA MAGNUS AND COMING SOON A NEW SERIES FOR THE DIEHARDS THE OBSESSIVES THE LORE KEEPERS DISASSEMBLED DEEP CUTS IS ALMOST HERE WHERE WE GO DEEPER DARKER AND FARTHER INTO THE STORIES THAT SHAPE THE MYTHOS STARTING WITH A MONSTER WHO WAGED WAR IN THE STARS NOW BACK TO MAGNETO AND THE MAN WHO CHOSE TO BECOME THE FEAR HE COULD NEVER OUTRUN HE NEVER WANTED TO BE HUMANITY'S ENEMY HE JUST DIDN'T TRUST THEM TO EVER BE HIS FRIEND SO MAGNETO STRUCK FIRST AGAIN AND AGAIN NOT FOR GLORY NOT FOR CONQUEST BUT BECAUSE OF THE COST OF WAITING OF HOPING WAS SIMPLY TOO HIGH BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR WAR CHANGES YOU WHEN YOUR CAUSE BECOMES A CRUSADE WHEN THE SAME MAN WHO ONCE FOUGHT TO PROTECT HIS PEOPLE BEGINS TO BELIEVE THAT ONLY HE CAN DECIDE WHAT JUSTICE LOOKS LIKE BECAUSE IN MAGNETO'S MIND HE WAS ALWAYS RIGHT BUT BEING RIGHT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE INNOCENT AND IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED THE UPRISINGS THE TRIALS THE SHIFTING ALLIANCES MAGNETO WOULD BE FORCED TO CONFRONT A TRUTH FAR MORE TERRIFYING THAN ANY SENTINEL OR GENOCIDE WHAT IF HE HAD BECOME THE VERY THING HE ONCE FEARED THIS IS WHERE THE HELMET BEGINS TO CRACK WHERE THE LINE BETWEEN VENGEANCE AND VIRTUE BEGINS TO BLUR WHERE THE WORLD SEES A MONSTER AND XAVIER STILL SEES A FRIEND NOW WE ENTER THE AGE OF CONTRADICTION WHERE MAGNETO IS BOTH PRISONER AND PROPHET TERRORIST AND WOULD-BE SAVIOR BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE SCARIEST VILLAIN IS THE ONE WHO BELIEVES HE'S THE HERO THERE'S A MOMENT AND GOD LOVES MAN KILLS A HAUNTING UNFORGETTABLE ONE MAGNETO STANDS NOT AS A CONQUEROR BUT AS A WITNESS HE ISN'T THE ONE BRINGING DEATH THAT DAY HE'S THE ONE PULLING THE BODIES OF MURDERED MUTANT CHILDREN FROM A SWING SET IN THAT MOMENT SOMETHING SHIFTS THIS ISN'T ABOUT OBTAINING POWER OR RULING WITH AN IRON FIST ANYMORE IT'S ABOUT GRIEF BECAUSE MAGNET JUST SURVIVED ONE GENOCIDE HE'S LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE ANOTHER BEGIN AND THE WORLD STILL CALLS HIM THE VILLAIN IT'S HERE AMID THESE BRUTAL ECHOES OF HISTORY MAGNETO'S MOST PAINFUL TRUTH IS LAID BARE HE MAY BE RIGHT BUT BEING RIGHT HAS NEVER MADE HIM GOOD THE WAR HARDENS HIM IN FATAL ATTRACTIONS MAGNETO UNLEASHES AN ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE THAT KILLS HUNDREDS AND WIPES OUT TECHNOLOGY ACROSS THE GLOBE IT'S HIS WARNING SHOT TO HUMANITY A SHOW OF POWER TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN FEAR BUT HIS VICTORY IS HOLLOW EMPTY BECAUSE CHARLES HIS ONLY EQUAL HIS ONLY FRIEND CAN'T LET IT STAND IN A BRUTAL COUNTER-ATTACK XAVIER SHUTS DOWN MAGNETO'S MIND HE DOESN'T ARREST HIM HE DOESN'T PLEAD WITH HIM HE REMOVES HIS ENTIRE CONSCIOUSNESS A PSYCHIC LOBOTOMY DELIVERED NOT WITH RAGE NOR MALICE BUT IN SADNESS BUT THAT IS THE COST WHEN THE WEIGHT OF YOUR PEOPLE IS THRUST ON YOUR SHOULDERS TWO OLD MEN ONCE ALLIES NOW LOCKED IN A CYCLE OF PAIN AND BETRAYAL ONE BELIEVED THE DREAM COULD SAVE THEM THE OTHER BELIEVED THE DREAM WOULD GET THEM KILLED AND BOTH WERE WRONG BUT EVEN IN MAGNETO'S SOUL SCARRED AND SCORCHED AS IT IS LONGS FOR SOMETHING GREATER IN THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO WE SEE HIM PUT ON TRIAL FOR HIS CRIMES THE WORLD WATCHES MUTANTS AND HUMANS ALIKE WAIT TO SEE WHAT JUDGMENT AWAITS BUT MAGNETO DOESN'T FLINCH BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS NOTHING NEW TO HIM HE'S BEEN JUDGED SINCE THE DAY HE WAS BORN HE STANDS TALL IN THAT COURTROOM NOT AS A COWARD SEEKING MERCY BUT AS A MAN DEMANDING CLARITY HE DOESN'T ASK FORGIVENESS HE ASKS AN UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE IN HIS MIND EVERY SIN HE'S COMMITTED HAS BEEN TO STOP SOMETHING FAR WORSE BUT THIS IS THE TRAGEDY OF THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM MAGNETO BELIEVES IN PEACE BUT ONLY THE KIND BUILT ON STRENGTH ON VIGILANCE ON FEAR IN HIS EYES COMPASSION IS A LUXURY HIS PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD IT'S WHY HIS STORY HITS SO HARD IN X-MEN THE LAST STAND A FILM WHERE MAGNETO'S FURY BLINDS HIM TO THE VERY PEOPLE HE'S TRYING TO SAVE HE MOVES PAWNS ACROSS THE BOARD SACRIFICES SOLDIERS CIVILIANS AND EVEN FORMER ALLIES BECAUSE HE NO LONGER SEES INDIVIDUALS HE SEES STRATEGY HE SEES WAR AND IN THAT WAR HE'S WILLING TO LET OTHERS DIE FOR HIS CAUSE BECAUSE IF THEY WON'T FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES HE WILL EVEN IF IT MEANS CROSSING A LINE HE SWORE HE NEVER WOULD EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING WHAT LITTLE OF MAC'S EYES AND HEART REMAINS WHEN MAGNETO ISN'T JUST THE TYRANT HE'S A MIRROR AND NOWHERE IS THAT MORE EVIDENT THAN IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST WHERE WE SEE HIM AS AN OLD MAN HAUNTED BY REGRET BUT UNABLE TO LET GO OF HIS CONVICTION HE MANIPULATES EVENTS FROM THE SHADOWS SPENDS TIME AND STEAL ALIKE AND EVEN SIDES WITH THE X-MEN FOR A MOMENT BUT THE DREAMER NEVER WINS NOT IN THIS WORLD AND SO ONCE AGAIN HE TRADES PEACE FOR POWER AND THE COST IS FELT BY HIS PEOPLE BY CHARLES AND BY THE MAN HIMSELF BECAUSE EVEN WHEN HE SUCCEEDS HE LOSES SOMETHING TRUST HOPE HIS SOUL BUT HIS STORY CONTINUES TO GROW AND EVOLVE IN THE WORLD OF AGE OF APOCALYPSE A UNIVERSE WHERE XAVIER DIES AND MAGNETO LEADS THE X-MEN IN HIS PLACE IT'S A WORLD TURNED INSIDE OUT. BUT THE MAN IN THE CENTER IS STILL MAGNETO. STILL RUTHLESS. STILL CALCULATING. BUT THERE'S A DIFFERENCE HERE. WITHOUT CHARLES TO CHALLENGE HIM, MAGNETO BECOMES THE DREAMER. HE FIGHTS FOR HUMANITY. HE RAISES CHARLES' SON. AND FOR ONCE, HE LETS LOVE GUIDE HIS HAND INSTEAD OF RAGE. BUT EVEN THEN, EVEN IN A REALITY WHERE MAGNETO IS THE HERO, WAR STILL FOLLOWS HIM. DEATH STILL CLAIMS THOSE HE SWORE TO PROTECT. BECAUSE WHETHER HE'S LEADING THE BROTHERHOOD OR THE X-MEN, THE WORLD NEVER STOPS FEARING THE MONSTER IT HELPED CREATE. SO WHAT IS HE? A VILLAIN? A HERO? OR A WARNING? MAGNETO DOESN'T FIT ANY SINGLE ROLE. HE'S A MAN DEFINED BY CONTRADICTIONS. COMPASSIONATE, BUT VIOLENT. RIGHTEOUS, BUT UNRELENTING. TRAUMATIZED, BUT TERRIFYING. TO XAVIER, HE IS A FRIEND LOST TO FURY. TO THE WORLD, HE IS A MONSTER PROPPED UP BY HIS CAUSE. IN THE TRUTH, THEY'RE BOTH RIGHT. BECAUSE INTENTION DOESN'T ERASE IMPACT. AND EVEN THE MOST NOBLE GOALS, FREEDOM, SURVIVAL, JUSTICE, CAN LEAVE A TRAIL OF BODIES IN THEIR WAKE WHEN WIELDED BY TREMBLING HANDS WRAPPED IN METAL. BUT STILL, HE ENDURES. BECAUSE TO MAGNETO, SURVIVAL HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT BEING GOOD. IT'S ABOUT BEING READY, EVEN IF THAT MEANS BECOMING SOMETHING UNFORGIVABLE. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WAR NEVER ENDS? WHAT BECOMES OF THE WARRIOR WHO'S LOST EVERYTHING, BUT SURVIVES ANYWAY? FOR MAGNETO, THERE IS NO RETIREMENT, NO FINAL VICTORY, ONLY THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY PRESSING DOWN LIKE IRON CHAINS, DRAGGING BEHIND HIM EVERY MISTAKE, EVERY GRAVE, EVERY DREAM TURNED TO ASH. AND YET, HE KEEPS WALKING. BECAUSE SURVIVAL ISN'T THE SAME AS HEALING. REDEMPTION, THAT'S NOT A REWARD, IT'S A RECKONING. THE YEARS PASS. MAGNETO DOESN'T SOFTEN. HE CALCIFIES, BECOMING COLDER, MORE PRECISE. NO LONGER DRIVEN BY VENGEANCE, BUT NOT YET AT PEACE. BUT SOMETHING REMARKABLE BEGINS TO UNFOLD. HE STOPS TRYING TO WIN THE WAR, AND INSTEAD, HE BEGINS TO CHANGE. NOW WE ENTER THE TWILIGHT OF THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM. A MAN OLDER, WISER, TIRED, BUT NOT BROKEN. A MAN STILL HAUNTED BY HIS PAST, BUT NO LONGER DEFINED BY IT. THIS IS THE STORY OF MAGNETO'S REINVENTION, AND THE COST OF CHOOSING A BETTER PATH, AFTER A LIFETIME OF WALKING THE WRONG ONE. IN THE AFTERMATH OF BLOODSHED AND BETRAYAL, WHAT COMES NEXT FOR A MAN LIKE MAGNETO? CAN A LIFETIME OF HORROR AND POWER BE TRANSFORMED INTO SOMETHING RIGHTEOUS? OR IS IT SIMPLY TOO LATE? FOR A LONG TIME, MAGNETO BELIEVED THE ANSWER WAS WAR. BUT IN THE SHADOW OF HOUSE OF M, WE SAW THE TRUTH. IT WAS FAMILY THAT BROKE HIM. AFTER WANDA, THE SCARLET WITCH, REWROTE REALITY ITSELF TO GIVE MUTANTS A WORLD OF PEACE, IT COLLAPSED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF BETRAYAL. THE DREAM TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE, AND AS SHE UTTERED THOSE THREE FATEFUL WORDS, NO MORE MUTANTS. MAGNETO'S LEGACY SHATTERED, NOT WITH A BANG, BUT WITH SILENCE, WITH LOSS. IN THAT MOMENT, MAGNETO WAS NO LONGER THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM. HE WAS JUST A FATHER WHO FAILED TO PROTECT HIS DAUGHTER, AND WORSE, A MAN WHO PLACED TOO MUCH FAITH IN POWER. YEARS LATER, WE FIND HIM ADRIFT IN 2014'S MAGNETO MINISERIES, A SHARP, BLEAK SERIES THAT STRIPS HIM OF ARMIES, TITLES, AND ALLIES. HE BECOMES A GHOST IN THE RUINS OF HIS OWN LEGEND. A ONE-MAN WAR MACHINE HUNTING DOWN THOSE WHO PREY ON MUTANTS. HE'S NOT TRYING TO LEAD, HE'S TRYING TO ATONE. BUT WHAT'S SO HAUNTING IS HOW EFFECTIVE HE STILL IS. WITHOUT FANFARE OR SPEECHES, HE EXECUTES JUSTICE. SURGICAL, BRUTAL, AND PRECISE. HE'S NOT DOING IT FOR GLORY, HE'S DOING IT BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS TO. IT'S THE CLEAREST PORTRAIT OF WHO MAGNETO REALLY IS WHEN NO ONE'S WATCHING. A MAN WHO STILL BELIEVES HIS PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER, EVEN IF HE NO LONGER BELIEVES HE DOES. AND THEN COMES THE ISLE OF KRAKOA AND HOUSE OF X. MAGNETO DOESN'T RETURN TO LEAD A REBELLION, HE RETURNS TO BUILD A FUTURE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, MUTANTKIND ESTABLISHES A SOVEREIGN NATION, A HOME THAT CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM THEM. XAVIER INVITES MAGNETO NOT AS A RIVAL, BUT AS A PARTNER, AND HE ACCEPTS. NOT BECAUSE HE TRUSTS CHARLES, BUT BECAUSE HE FINALLY BELIEVES IN THE IDEA OF MUTANT UNITY. IT'S HERE THAT MAGNETO EVOLVES ONCE MORE. HE'S NO LONGER THE OUTSIDER, HE'S A FOUNDATION. AN X-MEN SWORD AND X-MEN RED, HE BECOMES A QUIET, FORCEFUL PRESENCE. A STRATEGIST, A STATESMAN, AND YES, A TEACHER ONCE MORE. THE VERY ROLE HE ONCE MOCKED BECAME HIS NEW IDENTITY. HE TRAINS THE NEXT GENERATION NOT TO FIGHT FOR HIM, BUT TO NEVER BOW AGAIN. HE DOESN'T JUST PREACH STRENGTH, HE MODELS DIGNITY. AND THROUGH IT ALL, THE WORLD WATCHES AS THE ONCE FEARED TERRORIST BECOMES SOMETHING FAR MORE DANGEROUS. A LEADER WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO PROVE. BUT NO ERA OF PEACE LASTS FOREVER. IN JUDGMENT DAY, AS KRAKOA FACES COSMIC ANNIHILATION, MAGNETO IS OFFERED A CHOICE, SURVIVE OR PROTECT. AND HE CHOOSES SACRIFICE. KNOWING HIS DEATH MAY DOOM THE ISLAND'S RESURRECTION PROTOCOLS FOREVER, HE STILL GIVES HIS LIFE TO STOP THE ENEMY. NOT WITH RAGE, NOT WITH HATE, BUT WITH CALM DETERMINATION. AS HE BLEEDS OUT BENEATH THE MARTIAN SOIL, HE SAYS, THERE'S NO RESURRECTION FROM ME. LET THEM REMEMBER WHAT I DID. IT'S THE MOST HUMAN MOMENT OF HIS LIFE. A DEATH NOT BORN FROM VENGEANCE, BUT FROM LOVE. BECAUSE FOR ONCE, MAGNETO ISN'T DYING FOR WAR, HE'S DYING FOR PEACE. WE SEE THAT SAME STRUGGLE REFLECTED IN X-MEN 97, A MAN WEATHERED BY GUILT, STILL SHARP, STILL POWERFUL, BUT MORE TIRED THAN HE'LL EVER ADMIT. AND YET, HE CHOOSES TO CARRY XAVIER'S DREAM FORWARD. HE LEADS THE X-MEN NOT WITH IRON WILL, BUT WITH TREMBLING HANDS. NOT BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HE'S WORTHY, BUT BECAUSE SOMEONE MUST. IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, WE SAW WHAT HIS FINAL EVOLUTION COULD LOOK LIKE. THE WAR IS OVER, THE FUTURE IS SAVED, AND MAGNETO DISAPPEARS. NOT IN SURRENDER, BUT IN SILENCE, A STORM FINALLY FADING. HE ISN'T THE MAN HE ONCE WAS, AND THAT'S THE POINT. BECAUSE REDEMPTION DOESN'T ERASE THE PAST, IT SIMPLY MAKES A DIFFERENT FUTURE POSSIBLE. AND FOR MAGNETO, THE MAN WHO SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST, LOST CHILDREN, RAISED CITIES, AND BUILT NATIONS, THE FUTURE IS NO LONGER ABOUT HIM, IT'S ABOUT WHO COMES NEXT. THE LEGACY HE LEAVES BEHIND, NOT AS A CONQUEROR, NOT AS A MARTYR, BUT AS PROOF THAT CHANGE IS STILL POSSIBLE, EVEN FOR THE WORST OF US. HE WAS BORN TO A WORLD THAT TAUGHT HIM SURVIVAL IS THE ONLY LAW, A CHILD OF WAR, A SON OF ASHES. MAGNETO EMERGED FROM THE HOLOCAUST NOT JUST AS A MUTANT, BUT AS A WARNING, AS A REMINDER THAT HISTORY, LEFT UNCHECKED, REPEATS. AT THE HUNTED WILL EVENTUALLY GROW CLAWS, AND YET, THE QUESTION HAUNTS US, WAS HE A SAVIOR OR A TYRANT? THAT TENSION HAS DEFINED HIS VERY EVOLUTION. BECAUSE MAGNETO DOESN'T BEGIN AS A VILLAIN, HE BEGINS AS A MAN WHO LOST EVERYTHING. AGAIN AND AGAIN, HIS PARENTS, HIS CHILDREN, HIS HOME. AND THROUGH EACH LOSS, THE WORLD PUSHED HIM FURTHER FROM MERCY, CLOSER TO CERTAINTY. THAT'S THE DANGER, ISN'T IT? CERTAINTY. IN HIS EYES, EVERY ACT OF TERROR TO HIS DEFENSE, EVERY ESCALATION, A NECESSITY. WHEN HE DROPPED AN ASTEROID ON THE EARTH OR STRIPPED WOLVERINE'S SKELETON, HE WASN'T ACTING OUT OF MALICE, HE WAS ACTING OUT OF FEAR. FEAR THAT IF HE BLINKED, IF HE COMPROMISED, MUTANTS WOULD BURN JUST LIKE HIS FAMILY HAD. BUT CERTAINTY CAN BE A POISON. IT CONVINCES US THAT COMPASSION IS WEAKNESS. THAT POWER IS THE ONLY ANSWER. THAT PEOPLE ARE TOOLS, OR THREATS, AND NOTHING IN BETWEEN. MAGNETO BELIEVED HE WAS PROTECTING HIS PEOPLE. BUT WHAT DO YOU BECOME WHEN PROTECTION TURNS TO DOMINATION? WHEN LEADERSHIP DEVOLVES INTO CONTROL? YOU BECOME WHAT YOU SWORE TO FIGHT. HE SAW IT WHEN HE RULED GENOSHA, HIS MUTANT KINGDOM BUILT ON DEFIANCE. HE SAW IT AGAIN IN HOUSE OF M, WHEN HE BUILT REALITY TO THE WILL OF HIS CHILDREN'S GRIEF. IN EVERY CASE, THE INTENTION WAS NOBLE, AND THE COST WAS UNBEARABLE. BECAUSE MAGNETO, FOR ALL HIS POWER, COULD NEVER OUTRUN HIS PAST. HE COULD NEVER STOP PROVING THE WORLD WRONG. PROVING THAT MUTANTS WOULD NOT GO QUIETLY, THAT THEY WOULD RISE. AND IF PEACE DEMANDED THEY KNEEL, THEN PEACE COULD BURN. AND YET, THERE'S MORE TO HIM THAN WRATH. THERE'S THE MENTOR, QUIETLY GUIDING THE NEW MUTANTS WHEN XAVIER FALTERS. THE TEACHER WHO TELLS HIS STUDENTS TO THINK, NOT JUST OBEY. THE MAN WHO HUMBLES HIMSELF IN THE MAGNETO MINISERIES, LIVING IN THE SHADOWS, STRIPPED OF POWER, HUNTING THOSE WHO HARM HIS PEOPLE, NOT FOR GLORY, BUT FOR PENANCE. THERE'S THE LEADER WHO HELPED BUILD KRAKOA, NOT AS A WEAPON, BUT AS A REFUGEE. AND FINALLY, THERE'S THE MARTYR WHO FALLS LATER IN THE KRAKOAN AGE, GIVING HIS LIFE NOT IN CONQUEST, BUT IN DEFENSE OF A BETTER WORLD. A WORLD HE NEVER GOT TO LIVE IN, BUT HELPED CREATE. IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, WHEN PEACE IS FINALLY WON, MAGNETO SIMPLY DISAPPEARS. NOT IN DEFEAT, BUT IN SILENCE. IT MIRRORS HIS KRAKOAN END, WHERE HIS FINAL ACT IS NOT A WAR CRY, BUT A WHISPER OF FAITH. FAITH THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THE DREAM NO LONGER NEEDS TO SURVIVE. AND THIS IS AT THE HEART OF MAGNETO'S STORY. NOT A HERO, NOT A VILLAIN, BUT A MAN CAUGHT IN THE RIFT BETWEEN MEMORY AND HOPE. WHO SPENT HIS LIFE WALKING THE RAZOR'S EDGE BETWEEN REVOLUTION AND RUIN. WHO BELIEVED, DEEPLY, THAT THE ENDS JUSTIFIED THE MEANS, UNTIL HE SAW WHAT THOSE MEANS HAD COST. HIS STORY FORCES US TO ASK, WHAT DO WE BECOME WHEN THE WORLD REFUSES TO CHANGE? WHEN THE DREAM FAILS US? WHEN POWER OFFERS SAFETY, BUT ROBS US OF OUR SOUL? AND MORE HAUNTING STILL, WHAT IF THE MONSTER WAS RIGHT? BUT HERE'S WHERE THE STORY TURNS INWARD, TOWARDS US. BECAUSE MAYBE. MAGNETO'S STRUGGLE ISN'T JUST THE STORY OF A PERSECUTED MUTANT WHOSE RAGE FUELED HIS CONQUEST. MAYBE IT'S A HUMAN ONE. HOW MANY OF US ARE SHAPED BY PAIN WE NEVER ASKED FOR? HOW MANY OF US CARRY GRIEF SO DEEP, WE START BELIEVING THAT CONTROL IS THE ONLY WAY TO FEEL SAFE. THAT STRENGTH MEANS NEVER SHOWING WEAKNESS, NEVER FORGIVING, NEVER BENDING. BUT MAGNETO SHOWS US THE DANGER OF LIVING THAT FOR TOO LONG. HE TEACHES US THAT PAIN CAN SHAPE US, BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO DEFINE US. THAT SURVIVAL IS NOT ENOUGH. WE MUST ALSO CHOOSE WHAT WE BECOME IN THE AFTERMATH. THAT LEGACY ISN'T ABOUT POWER, IT'S ABOUT WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND IN OTHERS. SO ASK YOURSELF, ARE YOU STILL CHASING VENGEANCE FOR WOUNDS THE WORLD DOESN'T SEE? HAVE YOU MISTAKEN FEAR FOR STRENGTH? AND IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO CHANGE, TO STEP AWAY FROM THE SHADOW YOU'VE BECOME, WOULD YOU? MAGNETO WAS FORGED IN TRAUMA, TWISTED BY RAGE, REDEEMED BY PURPOSE, AND IN THE END, HIS GREATEST ACT WASN'T IN BATTLE, IT WAS STEPPING AWAY. LETTING OTHERS CARRY THE DREAM FORWARD, LETTING PEACE GROW WITHOUT A SHADOW. BECAUSE MAYBE THAT'S THE TRUTH OF MAGNETO'S STORY, THAT MONSTERS AREN'T BORN, THEY'RE MADE, AND SOMETIMES, THEY CAN UNMAKE THEMSELVES. THANK YOU FOR WALKING WITH US THROUGH THE FIRE, THROUGH THE FURY, THROUGH THE SILENCE BETWEEN WARS, THROUGH THE MAN WHO REFUSED TO KNEEL, NO MATTER THE COST. BECAUSE MAGNETO WASN'T BORN TO CONQUER, HE WAS BORN TO SURVIVE. A CHILD OF GENOCIDE, A FATHER TO A LOST FUTURE, A KING WITH NO THRONE. HE CARRIED THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD THAT NEVER WANTED HIM TO EXIST. AND IN TURN, HE CARRIED HIS PEOPLE ON HIS BACK. THROUGH EXILE, THROUGH BETRAYAL, THROUGH EVERY COMPROMISE CHARLES XAVIER NEVER HAD TO MAKE. HE MADE HARD CHOICES, BECAUSE SOMEONE HAD TO. HE RULED, HE REBELLED, HE RELENTED. AND IN THE END, HE BLED FOR A WORLD THAT STILL FEARED HIM. ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE, HIS PATH MAY SHIFT, BUT THE BURDEN NEVER DOES. IN ONE LIFE, HE BUILDS MUTANT UTOPIA, IN ANOTHER, HE WATCHES IT BURN. IN SOME, HE IS THE VILLAIN, IN OTHERS, HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES WHAT'S COMING. BECAUSE THAT'S THE TRUTH OF IT, ISN'T IT? THAT LEADERSHIP IS NOT ABOUT PURITY, IT'S ABOUT PRESSURE. IT'S NOT ABOUT WHO DESERVES POWER, BUT WHO DARES TO WIELD IT. AND MAGNETO DARED, AGAIN AND AGAIN. NOT FOR GLORY, NOT FOR VENGEANCE, BUT BECAUSE HE BELIEVED NO ONE ELSE WOULD. HE BELIEVES NEWTONS NEEDED SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T DREAM, SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERED. HE BECAME THAT SOMEONE, UNTIL FINALLY, HE DIDN'T HAVE TO. SO WE'RE LEFT WITH THE QUESTION, WAS MAGNETO A VILLAIN? OR THE ONLY ONE WHO TRULY UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS COMING? AND THERE IS THE LEGACY OF. MAX EISENHARDT. NOT A MONSTER, NOT A MESSIAH, BUT A MIRROR. REFLECTING THE COST OF SURVIVAL AND THE BURDEN OF VISION. SO SIT WITH THAT. SIT WITH THE DISCOMFORT, THE DOUBT, THE DANGER OF CERTAINTY. BECAUSE WHEN YOUR WORLD COLLAPSES, BE THAT SOMEONE WHO HAS TO RISE FROM ITS ASHES. SO STAY BRAVE, STAY DEFIANT, AND AS ALWAYS, STAY HANDSOME. AND REMEMBER, THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR IT, EVEN IF HISTORY NEVER FORGIVES THEM.