Throughout its 61-year history, theX-Menfranchise has never had a villain more iconic thanMagneto, the Master of Magnetism. Visually distinct, immensely powerful, and possessing Shakespearean intensity, Magneto has battled against the X-Menandalongside them. However, over sixty years, he’s also enjoyed many different costumes and redesigns.
Here are the 13 wildest redesigns Magneto has received in Marvel Comics. We’ve looked far and wide for the biggest changes to Magneto’s design, showing the many different ways the ultimate mutant warrior has greeted a world that hates and fears him.
13Anti-Iron Man Armor
Debuted in AvX: Vs #1, from Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert
During theAvXevent, the Avengers and X-Men went to war over the future of the newly discovered mutant Hope Summers. One of the event’s most impressive battles wasbetween Iron Man and Magneto- a match-up that some fans thought would be over in seconds. Of course, Tony Stark plays to win, wearing a suit made entirely of non-magnetic materials. However, if he thought this would hand him the fight, he was wrong.
Tony tried to win the fight with a fleet of satellites that channeled Jupiter’s magnetic field, allowing him to replicate Magneto’s powers. In response,Magneto tore the satellites from the sky, forging them into a suit of armor. The armor vastly increased Magneto’s magnetic powers, allowing him to reach out and steal the power of entire planets. Sadly for Magneto, he ultimately concluded the X-Men were on the wrong side of the fight and allowed Iron Man to take him down. Despite that, the anti-Iron Man is probably the strongest Magneto has ever been, if only for a few seconds.
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12Magneto and the Magnetic Men
Debuting in Gerard Jones and Jeff Matsuda’s Magneto and the Magnetic Men #1
Marvel and DC’s short-lived Amalgam Comicsinitiative fused their lore, creating a new reality featuring merged versions of their iconic characters.Magneto found himself combined with DC’s William Magnus- a scientist who created the artificial beings known as the Metal Men. Amalgam’s Magneto did much the same, creating his own robot team to fight for the cause of metamutants, trying to replace his lost family. This red, blue and yellow costume gave Magneto a very ’90s redesign.
11Steampunk Magneto
Debuted in Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia’s X-Treme X-Men #2
In an alternate reality where the deadliest mutants have become golden-armored gods,Magnus is a steampunk inventorwho fights for the rebellion alongside his best friend. This version of Magneto still has his mutant powers, but he also has a tricked-out flying car, complete with gatling guns to keep his enemies at bay. Wearing a sharp suit with a battle helmet, this Magnus was eventually betrayed by Xavier, but managed to keep hope alive through his hidden Utopia base.
10Joseph
As Seen in Steve Orlando and Russell Dauterman’s Scarlet Witch #5
This character isn’t actually Magneto, but still reimagines his iconic design viahis younger clone Joseph. In 2023, Marvel seemingly resurrected Magneto from his recent death with an incredibly stylish new look - a dark suit with an open-collared black shirt, a black helmet, and a badge turning the livery of Magneto’s original helmet into an identifying symbol.
However, eagle-eyed fans noticed this Magneto had a scar across his throat, correctly guessingthis was actually Joseph- Magneto’s ’90s clone now grown to resemble his ‘father.’ Joseph enjoyed some adventures alongside the Scarlet Witch, but his real achievement was giving Magneto an unbelievably stylish formal-wear redesign.
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9Magneto and the Magnus Gang
First Seen in Saladin Ahmed and Rod Reis' Exiles #6
The multiverse contains a diverse array of worlds, including a reality based on the Wild West. In this world, ‘Eric Magnus’ is the villain who killed King T’Chaka, resulting in acowboy-themed Black Panther chasing him down. The Exiles united with Black Panther to take on Magneto and the Magnus Gang - an Old West version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
8Hellfire Gala Costume
Designed by Russell Dauterman
In 2021, the X-Men threw their first Hellfire Gala - a celebration of mutant power, culture and fashion. Every major X-Men hero got a one-time costume created bymutant designer Jumbo Carnation, with Xavier and Magneto debuting matching white and gold outfits, acknowledging them as the founders of the mutant nation of Krakoa.
7Battle Armor
See It in X-Men Blue #25 by Cullen Bunn and Jorge Molina
While mentoring the original, time-displaced X-Men, Magneto came face-to-face with the corrupted Havok and his team of mutant supremacists. As against Iron Man, Magneto quickly used his powers to fashion armor, battling big hitters including Emma Frost, Bastion and Miss Sinister. The armor survived a maximum force blast of Havok’s powers -something that has downed the Hulkhimself in the past.
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6Age of X
Debuting in Age of X: Alpha #1 by Mike Carey, Mirco Pierfederici, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Paco Diaz and Paul Davidson
What if Magneto lost everything he wanted? That was the question asked by thealternate reality ofAge of X- a world where humanity definitively declared mutantkind its enemy, hunting them down by the tens of thousands. In this timeline, Magneto founded Fortress X - a final safe haven for mutants, formed by tearing human skyscrapers from the ground and shaping them into an impenetrable castle.
Ultimately, it turned out that this timeline was a result of Legion tampering with reality, but having been created, it now lives on, with its mutants fighting for survival.Magneto’sAge of Xredesign turns him into a white knight, with shining armor and a billowing cape.
5Horseman of Pestilence
Debuting in Powers of X #1, from Jonathan Hickman and R.B. Silva
While this character isn’t actually Magneto, he’s definitely a take on the Master of Magnetism’s design, with green armor and pronounced facial hair. North comes from a potential (now averted) timeline where mutantkind is nearly extent. He’s a result of genetic experiments by Mister Sinister,combining immense telepathic power with the DNA of Magneto’s daughter Lorna Dane, aka Polaris. On top of that power, North was enhanced by Apocalypse as his latest Horseman of Pestilence. Sadly, the hero didn’t survive his final mission, but he did contribute to the plan that stopped his dark timeline from coming into being.
4House of M
As Seen in Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel’s House of M #1
What if Magneto got everything he wanted? That’s the question answered bythe iconicHouse of Mevent, in which Scarlet Witch changed reality, creating a society where Magneto had defeated humanity and elevated mutants to a superior place in humanity. Scarlet Witch combined the X-Men and Avengers' dreams to forge this new world, accidentally turning the world in a nightmare where humans were oppressed by their superpowered leaders.
Magneto stood at the head of that society, with his medals and robes denoting his position as mutant royalty.This is a Magneto who has evolved beyond the ‘supervillain’ label, but with enough metal ornamentation to instantly weaponize if he comes under threat.
This costume iseasily Magneto’s most controversial, following accusations that Mike Mayhew’s cover forThe Pulse: House of M Special(above) was based on an official portrait of Spain’s King Juan Carlos. The accusation is hard to deny, given that not only are the clothes, pose and medals the same, but even the wallpaper is the same pattern.
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