Warning: Spoilers for Resurrection of Magneto #2!Whether Magneto is definitively a hero or a villain for the X-Men has finally been answered. Most fans are most familiar with the villainy that has shrouded Magneto since X-Men first hit shelves in 1963, but in more recent years, he turned over a new leaf before Magneto nobly sacrificed his life in 2022. However, his character has always been so deeply rooted in being morally gray that his alignment remains hard to peg.
Today, Marvel has been able to confirm that Magneto is officially a hero for the X-Men as of Resurrection of Magneto #2. As Storm embarks on a mission to bring Magneto back to life in order to prevent the X-Men’s fall to Orchis, she finds Max in the afterlife. There, he’s tortured by the names of those he’s killed, as well as the names of those he’s saved.
As much as he’s pained to see the thousands of names that have perished by his hand, he is even more broken by the thousands of names he’s saved. In his mind, the latter is far too few.
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Magneto is Far More Complex Than Good or Evil
Resurrection of Magneto #2 by Al Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, David Curiel, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Joe Sabino
This entire issue is all about coming to terms with the complexity of Magneto, the good and the bad that he’s offered to the X-Men. He spends the first half of the issue bemoaning his failures and suggesting that he can’t possibly be forgiven for the harm he caused while among the living. Nor does Magneto want forgiveness, even from himself. That’s when Storm shows him a wall of people he’s saved that runs just as long as the list of lives he’s taken.
That’s where the complexity of Magneto comes into play, along with his stance on good and evil. Max has hurt as many people as he’s helped. He’s done some truly heinous things over the years, but also some uplifting things. Taking one life alone is unforgivable for him, yet one mutant unsaved is one too many. Even when he was misguided, his intentions were pure and intended to better the mutant race. When he’s right, he’s not doing enough, and when he’s wrong, the newfound clarity eats away at him.
What Makes Magneto the Ultimate Hero
For starters, his reaction to the list of names of those he saved, compared to his reaction to the list of lives he’s damned, is telling. With the latter, he’s enraged more than anything, but with the former, he’s heartbroken. The thought that he could have saved more is enough to move him to tears. It’s also enough to encourage Magneto to return to the land of the living, if only to right his wrongs. While Magneto’s crimes are as unforgivable as the harm he’s directly done to the X-Men, his passion to constantly do better highlights that he’ll never stop fighting to save others.
