8 Most Brutal Things Magneto Has Ever Done

2. Snapped Professor X's Neck - Ultimatum

Scalphunter Magneto
Marvel Comics

If you're looking for a comic book tale that fully embraces Magneto as a murderous unhinged tyrant, you need look no further than Ultimatum.

In that 2009 Ultimate Marvel miniseries from writer Jeph Loeb and artist David Finch, readers are greeted by a Magneto who is grieving the loss of his children, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Doing what any bonkers bad guy would do, the Master of Magnetism decides to take his own personal pain out on the entire world.

Having stolen Mjolnir from Thor (well, kind of... and maybe with a Doctor Doom assist), Magneto was unstoppable here.

Killing millions of the human race, this uber-rogue turns up at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children to confront his on-off BFF. But after Professor X compares Magneto and his skewed viewpoint to Osama bin Laden, Pol Pot, and Adolf Hitler, that's enough to push Magneto even further over the edge - to the point that he snaps his long-time friend's neck.

While death is rarely a permanent fixture in comic books, the death of Charles Xavier did indeed remain permanent. Then again, that could well be down to the fact that the Ultimate Marvel imprint was soon brought to an end and relaunched as Ultimate Comics.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.