Originally Posted by
Rivka
Max didn't either.
In terms of the Marvel Universe, Max/Magneto spent most of his life either trying to survive or trying to protect and save mutants. He had to steal food in the Warsaw Ghetto to help keep his family alive, does that make him a thief? As a member of the Auschwitz Sonderkommando he had to help the Nazis fool his own people into the "showers" and dispose of their bodies to stay alive himself, does that make him a murderer? He thinks so. He decided he was damned, not redeemable, because of those things a long time ago. But he kept trying to keep to the path of righteousness. He tried being a husband, a father, and what happened? When his powers exploded because of his grief after his little daughter Anya was burned alive, he couldn't control them. Other mutants have accidentally killed people when their powers first manifested. He was deeply in love with his wife--Magda--and spent years searching for her. He went to Israel and worked for the Mossad and other Intelligence services as a double agent. He did this for years, before he met Charles Xavier and after.
As he aged, he refused Xavier's offer of help and spent years overusing his powers, misusing his powers. Hence the headaches. Once Isabel was murdered, he started to crack. His powers gave him bipolar psychosis. But even then, he tried to listen to his inclination to do good. He decided to hunt dangerous mutants, to turn his Intelligence talents to discovering what the governments of the world had in store for mutants. We see a moment when Sean Cassidy was still working for Interpol, when Max, using the name Erik Lehnsherr, came to him and asked for help in taking out a nascent Omega Red. This all before the FF went up in that rocket, and Xavier started training the 05.
That's Magneto's tragedy. He was not a "bad" man, he in fact was a good man for many years in-universe. But once he discovered the massive high of his enormous powers and being so incredible powerful, he became more and more out of control. He ages more slowly (due to his powers) than normal mutants or non-mutant humans, but he was still in his 70s when he first met the young 05. All those Silver Age crazy schemes can only be explained as the result of manic psychosis and his psychological problems due to all his pain and loss.
After he was baby-ized by Mutant Alpha, and re-aged, he tried repeatedly to follow Xavier's "way" and failed. But did he fail, or is Xavier's way a failure? Given the status of mutants in the Marvel Universe, Kieron Gillan's Magneto makes a lot of sense.
In any case, this poll is not valid because it doesn't provide the third choice. Magneto is neither a hero nor a villain. He's in the grey zone (where the Sonderkommando were said to be). He is well aware of his crimes in the past, and his psychotic breaks and actions--he told Scott Summers that it was no excuse, that he is responsible. Magneto is the first to say that he can't be redeemed because that's what he believes about himself. Yet, he is capable of doing good and great things, and saving lives.
He is not a sociopath, or a psychopath. He has serious psychological issues, rage and pain that he can hardly contain. He doesn't trust anyone; you can understand why, given his history. We've discussed this many times over the last 14 years I've been on this forum, so forgive me if for repeating myself, but as I've posted many times, Magneto will always be the terrified boy in the striped uniform behind the barbed wire of Auschwitz; that's why he wants everyone to fear him. That's why he believes (deep down, even if he puts it on hold to join the X-Men) the only way for mutants to persevere and prevail is by the use of force.
Yes, in the real world, different writers have had a different slant on Magneto but he's been the Holocaust survivor with the deep psychological scars for 35+ years now. That's a long time! He's been written in the grey area, a hard ass who is neither a hero nor a villain for 10 years. And he's one of Marvel's most popular characters because of this. 1-dimensional villains are a dime a dozen. Marvel's grey-zone Magneto is a unique and (to me) a magnificent character!
He is capable of love and empathy but at the same time capable of great rage. He's a fascinating character. I hate the word "villain" these days anyway. Who are "villains"? Like many others have said in this thread, one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist.
We need another poll. I might start one. There should be at 3 choices: Hero, Anti-Hero or Anti-Villain, and Villain. Perhaps a 4th choice of "Neither a hero nor a villain."
You want to pick apart the things he's done during the Silver Age (when he had gone psychotic and manic) but Magneto agrees with you! It's shameful for him. He felt guilt about the Leningrad submarine (which fired on his island first, because Russia felt threatened by Magneto in particular, because Magneto hates the Russians, because they killed his daughter Anya). (Technically now that would be the Ukrainians, but Max hates them even more because they collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust.) He warned the people first when he set off the Siberian volcano--but that's Russia again. It's all personal for him. In UNCANNY #150 he wanted to control the world from the far left--he wanted to destroy all nuclear weapons, end poverty, stop the destruction of the climate, bring peace, but of course with himself in charge. When he almost killed Kitty Pryde at the end, it finally jolted him into some serious self-reflection and a search for a new path.
Sorry, I could write a novel. I and many other great Magneto fans have written thousands and thousands of words about Magneto. Anyway, I don't want to ever see Magneto as a "villain" again, in some Silver Age primitive sense. And I'm worried about how he'll be portrayed in the new X-MEN BLUE book. But even if he goes off again, or for some reason takes a turn to a more pro-active violent path, it doesn't erase the fact that he spent most of his life as a good man, and a very troubled powerful mutant trying to survive and find meaning, and it was only in the last 15 years or so Marvel Time that he put on the helmet and costume (in reaction to Xavier--I think Xavier pushed him to do it, too) and committed insane and criminal acts.