With the new X-Men:
The Animated Series continuation X-Men ’97 in full swing, I
wanted to take a brief look at one of the shows’ antagonist turned protagonist,
the mutant master of magnetism himself through the lens of the MC2. This
is Magneto in the MC2.
First, the basics: Magneto first appeared in 1963’s
X-Men #1, but we don’t get a ‘real’ name for the character for
quite some time. The first instance is in the classic Days of Future Past
story from X-Men #141 wherein the Earth-811 Magneto is referred
to as ‘Magnus’. Magneto of Earth-616 or the Main Marvel
Universe is also confirmed to use Magnus as a first name in Uncanny
X-Men #161. However, X-Men Unlimited #2 tells us Magneto’s full
name is ‘Erik Magnus Lehnsherr’, rendering Magnus a middle name
instead.
This would seem to have resolved the matter until the adjectiveless
X-Men (vol.2) #72 revealed the entire name was an alias. For those
playing at home, this issue was published in late 1997 making it potentially
past the point of divergence for the MC2’s own timeline, but possibly the
last relevant comic to address Magneto’s real name. Finally, while it’s
not necessarily canon to the MC2, X-Men readers would see ‘Max
Eisenhardt’ firmly established as Magneto’s real name in 2008’s
X-Men: Magneto Testament #1. This remains the official real name within
the Main Marvel Universe at the time of writing. Is it any wonder I
rarely cover X-Men characters?
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Moving on to the MC2 proper now, I’m going to jump
right in and admit we never see Magneto in the flesh anywhere. However, we do
get several mentions and a few second-generation successors. Let’s begin, shall
we?
In the pages of J2 #6 we get both when Zane Yama
aka J2 meets ‘Magneta, the most power of the new generation
of heroes’ who controls the power of magnetism and idolizes Magneto,
believing he was merely the victim of poor press management. Declaring her intention
to recruit a group of proactive superheroes, she puts the junior Juggernaut
through a test trial before fleeing when the new Avengers
arrive.
While on an apparent rescue mission in Madripoor with
Wolverine,
Zane Yama asks the Canadian former X-Man
when he got his adamantium back, referring to the fact Magneto ripped
the adamantium from Logan’s skeleton in X-Men (vol. 2) #25.
Amusingly, the MC2 predicted and pre-dated the restoration of Wolverine’s
adamantium-coated skeleton, which didn’t occur until Wolverine (vol.
2) #145, published several months later (J2 #10).
In yet another J2 story,
Zane Yama recounts that his father, the original Juggernaut aka Cain
Marko, was a major threat as a villain but was never in the same league
as Magneto (Wild Thing #5).
Various reserve members including Spider-Girl, Blacklight, Earth Sentry
and Coal
Tiger are called upon to join the Avengers team
due to a large number of their ranks having being sidelined following the
events of Last Hero Standing. They are briefed about the possible return
of the mutant master of magnetism Magneto, who hasn’t been seen in
years and is believed by some to be dead. Spider-Girl and trainee
member of the X-People
known as Push would
ultimately apprehend and unmask the tech-using imposter, a man named Charlie
Philips (Spider-Girl #92).
Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet
Witch serves as an active member of the depleted Avengers team
during the events of Last Planet Standing. During a conflict with
the villainous Revengers team led by Hope Pym
aka the Red
Queen, Wanda tells the now-villainous Magneta
that she is offended by her choice of costume and declares that she has no
right to call herself ‘Magneta’. Naturally, Magneta
responds that she chose her nom de costume and appearance in honour of Wanda’s
father. What’s notable about this interaction is that it confirms the familial
relationship between Magneto and Wanda in the MC2 (Last
Planet Standing #1).
Despite all these references and even inspiring a new
generation of metal manipulators, we still do not know the ultimate fate of one
of Marvel’s greatest characters in the MC2. Perhaps someday, we’ll
get an X-People series if I wish really, really hard. Special thanks to
the indefatigable arias-98105 for assistance with this and so many other
posts!
Until I become the mutant master of chess, I remain
frogoat
