X-Men: Days of Future Past – Meet Magneto
Name: Max Eisenhardt / Erik Lehnserr
Alias: Magneto
Abilities: Magnetism manipulation that allows him to generate or dissipate magnetic fields. Magneto also possesses a genius-level intellect and a strategic mind, he wears a helmet that shields his mind from even the most powerful of psychic attacks.
First Appearance: The X-Men #1
Portrayed by: Sir Ian McKellen / Michael Fassbender
Bio: Max Eisenhardt was born in the late 1920’s. His family were German-Jewish and at a young age Max would face terrible discrimination and horrors at the hands of Nazis, his family were sent to a Polish ghetto but were executed after a failed escape attempt. Max survived, attributing his mutant abilities as to the reason he lived he found himself sent to Auschwitz. It was here he would meet his first love Magda. After escaping the camp they began a life together but that too ended in tragedy when they lost their first born child to a fire accident, at this point Max’ true power was unleashed at the cost his relationship with his wife who fled in fear. At the time Magneto was unaware his wife was pregnant with twins and would only come to find them later in life when his children were young adults.
It was his experiences of hate crimes and the atrocities he witnessed and endured at the hands of the Nazis that would shape his life – his family gone, Max vowed to never let acts like the Holocaust happen again and to protect his fellow mutants at any cost.
Must read issues:
House of M – after the Scarlet Witch alters the fabric of reality, Magneto finds himself leader of Genosha, the world’s largest super power. Mutants hold the most powerful positions in world governments and are the dominant species on the planet. Magneto is at first forced to choose the fate of his daughter, his flesh and blood but also one of the most dangerous creatures in the known Universe he suddenly finds himself living the life he had always wanted.
Alternate versions:
Age of Apocalypse – when Charles Xavier was killed before he had the chance to give life to his team of mutants, the X-Men, Magneto leads the team against the destructive and terrifying force of Apocalypse. In the Marvel Zombieverse, Magneto uses his powers to protect the last remaining survivors of humanity from the legions of zombified heroes and villains.
Fun Facts:
Magneto has fathered four children, Lorna Dane / Polarise, Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Anya
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
