Is Magneto a Hero or Villain?

Many superhero films follow a basic dichotomy, the split between good versus evil. The good is represented by the superhero and the bad represented by the villain. The notion of good versus evil works in comics because it helps people unite behind a hero. It is universally agreed that Superman is a hero; no one will be rooting for Superman to fail when they are watching a Superman film. Superman is helping the city of metropolis because he’s a hero, he has no secret or dark motive behind his action, and he’s helping everyone because that’s simply what heroes do. The same applies to villains; no one wants the Joker to succeed in his plans because he is blatantly evil. He is causing destruction and killing people because he loves chaos, he has no secret agenda for the audience to get behind or sympathize with. The Joker, like most villains, is an agent of evil and that’s what makes him a villain.

Superheroes get more interesting when they are not as “pure” as Superman. One of the reason people like Batman so much is because of his complicated moral compass. Arguably the most interesting villain in any comic book is Magneto.

Magneto is the main villain of the X-men universe, but upon closer look it is not clear if he should be considered a villain. Many of Magneto’s “evil” traits are shared by other people that are considered heroes in their universe, so the question is, why is Magneto considered a villain and is it justified to call him one?

To understand why Magneto is the way he is one must first look at his upbringing. Magneto was born as Erik Lehnsherr to a Jewish family in Germany in the 1920s. His family survived the passing of the Nuremberg Laws and the attack of Kristallnacht; they then fled to Poland where the Nazi’s captured them. They were shipped to the concentration camp Auschwitz. The Nazi’s made two lines, one line was going to a work camp and the other line was going to a death camp. Erik was separated from his parents and as his mother was being pulled away from him he ran off the line to try to get to his mother. When the Nazi’s tried to pull them apart they were being dragged through the mud as Erik screamed, they eventually knocked him out and noticed the fence was bent. This is when Erik first realized he had the power to control metal. These hardships are the driving force behind why Magneto turned out the way he did.

One of the biggest factors when discussing a villain’s mentality is the superhero that battles him. The Joker would be looked at in a different light if he were battling Superman. If the Joker was challenging a virtually indestructible alien it could be argued that the Joker is showing everyone how unstoppable Superman is, and that the Joker is not necessarily the agent of chaos he is in the Batman universe. Magneto’s enemy is also his friend Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X. Professor X grew up in England in a mansion, the stark opposite from Magneto’s childhood. This is the driving force behind their differences. Magneto fears that the humans will hunt down the mutants out of fear, while Professor X thinks that mutants and humans can coexist. This difference in philosophy is due to their different upbringing. Magneto has seen the darkest point in the history of humanity. He has seen human beings turn on each other and systematically murder a group of people. Magneto will do anything he can to prevent it from happening again. Professor X has a more enlightened; some might say naïve, approach. Professor X believes human and mutants can coexist because he grew up with a life of peace. One philosophy is not inherently good nor is one inherently evil; they are both outlooks of two men brought up in very different scenarios.

Professor X believes that humans and mutants can live in harmony. This may seem to some as naïve, but it does make sense that if mutants use their powers for good than humans won’t mind having them around. Some may see Magneto’s “us versus them” mentality as paranoid. However, Magneto is constantly being proven right. In X-men First Class Cuba and the United States launch their missiles at the mutants on the beach. That could be considered an isolated incident at a time of high tension; it would not justify Magneto’s hatred of the human race. The biggest factor that shows the validity of Magneto’s point is the Mutant Registration Act. In X-men Senator Kelly tries to pass a law that all mutants must register as mutants. This is the moment that confirmed Magnetos greatest fears. During Magneto’s childhood he witness the approval of a similar legislation. One of the first anti-Semitic acts passed in Nazi Germany was that all Jews had to register with the German government; now Magneto is watching Senator Kelly try to get all Mutants to register with the United States government. That is why Magneto hatches a plot to turn Senator Kelly, as well as all the Heads of State that are visiting, into a mutant. Magneto knows that if everyone in power is a mutant he will be protected. He understands that in this process he might kill Rogue, but he views this as a way of saving all of mutant kind. In his mind killing Rogue would prevent another Holocaust, while this is a complicated moral decision, it is not an evil one.

The argument in favor of Magneto being a villain is simple, Magneto wants to kill humans, and anyone else who wants to kill people is considered a villain. Magneto even tried to use Professor X to kill every humans in the world. Objectively, trying to kill all the humans on Earth is an evil thing. However, one must look at this from Magnetos perspective to understand why he’s doing it. Magneto lived in a world where he was completely at the mercy of the Nazis and he watched as the Nazis killed his entire family. After living through this he made it his mission to prevent this from happening ever again. Magneto knew humans feared Mutants and he was worried he would have to live through another Holocaust but this time for mutants. When he was trying to kill his mother’s killer, both the United States and Cuba launched their missiles at the beach containing the mutants, even though they just prevented a war. This affirmed Magneto’s belief that the world hates mutants and that if he didn’t do anything he would be in the same position again. In Magneto’s mind he’s not killing a bunch of innocent humans, he’s killing the people that will turn against him. Magneto believes that he’s essentially killing future Nazis.

In “What Is A Superhero?” by Robin Rosenberg & Peter Coogan it discusses what makes a superhero and it gives this explanation, “movies that really connect with people do so on a very human level- people see something of themselves in these heroes, and they see the choice between good and evil.” (Coogan 120) Magneto connects with people on a very human level. Most people will never go through something as disastrous as the Holocaust but many people can empathize with the feeling of being powerless. Magneto’s story is one of someone who experienced the worst of humanity to someone who dedicated his life to try and stopping it. When the Arrow does it he is deemed a hero, but Magneto is considered a villain. The Arrow kills people in order to save Starling City just as Magneto is willing to kill people in order to save all mutants. That brings the question, why are they viewed differently? The difference is Magneto is identifying us as the problem. No one wants to think they are the bad guy, so when the Arrow kills people we rationalize that those people are the scum of the Earth and we are nothing like them. However, Magneto says that it’s basic human nature what he’s fighting and we cannot escape that Magneto is saying we are the villains.

Time and time again Magneto is proven right about humanity. The plot of X-men Days of Future Past is that the humans have built machines to wipe out all mutants. Magneto has every right to be suspicious of humanity because he saw how low it could go. Even though Magneto is proven right in his prediction that he would be hunted again we consider him a villain. The reason we consider him a villain is because calling him a hero or even an anti-hero would mean that he’s right and we as a species are the real villains because of this evil potential we have and eventually fulfill. It’s hard for humanity to admit its flaws, so calling Magneto a villain is a better way of ignoring the truth behind what he stands for.