Stan Lee's 20 Greatest Marvel Comics Creations

4. Magneto

Stan Lee Spider Man
Marvel Comics

The highest charting character here from Stan Lee’s seminal X-Men series, Magneto is anothet contender for greatest villain ever. Lee didn’t necessarily see him that way though. Speaking of Magneto, Lee said he ‘saw him as a danger, but never thought of him as a villain’.

On that front, Lee seems to have a point. The mutants in X-Men have always been used as a parallel for those who are different. Whether that’s black people in America (a prominent focus of xenophobia when Magneto debuted), Jews in Nazi Germany (with Magneto surviving Auschwitz) or the LGBT+ community (as paralleled in Bryan Singer’s movies).

It’s this way Magneto manages to be both right and wrong that makes him so complex and compelling. He’s not a sympathetic villain; even his torturous past doesn’t make up for some of his evil deeds. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone when they’re ripping out Wolverine’s spine.

He’s seen the worst of humanity, but it’s hardened him into an extremist. It’s conflicting to read him. Agreeing with his goals but not his methods, yet not really having a better solution yourself. Magneto challenges readers in ways the best characters do.

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