Marvel Just Made A Big Magneto Change, And It Poses A Serious Risk To The X-Men

Published Sep 27, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Mark has been a comic book journalist for over 15 years and has interviewed comic book creators like Gail Simone and Caspar Wijngaard. And when he's not writing, he's working on beating his record of 1,200 comics read in a year.

The X-Men and Fantastic Four crossover DNX has begun, and it’s better than many may have hoped. It isn’t just about 3K’s goal to release a virus that would turn humans into mutants, like in Age of Revelation. While Cyclops and his team were attempting to stop the Chairman (Krakoa’s Hank McCoy) from unleashing the X-Virus, another battle was going on between two genius superheroes.

During Jed MacKay’s X-Men No. 36, the Chairman met with Magneto (Max Eisenhardt) in hopes of getting him to join his team. Of course, Max refused, but this forced Hank to beat Magneto close to death and forcibly take blood, cerebrospinal fluid, bone marrow, and more from him. Luckily, before Max could die, the X-Men rescued him and stabilized him.

Fixing The Master Of Magnetism Stirs Quite The Debate

The X-Men’s Hank McCoy is a brilliant scientist, but even he can’t fix everything that’s going on with Magneto. So, rather than be arrogant and try to do this on his own, he goes to one of the most brilliant people in the universe, Reed Richards. Beast didn’t just want to fix Max’s body. Hank said that the X-Men needed Magneto’s powers back to the way they once were. Sadly, Reed said he would help fix him, but the world is a safer place without an empowered Magneto.

DNX is written by Jed Mackay, with illustrations by Federico Vicentini and colors by

David Curiel.

New X-Man Ben Liu listened to what Mister Fantastic said, then made an astute observation. Reed isn’t just concerned about the world. He’s worried about himself too. If he fixes Magneto and Max goes on to commit heinous acts, the blame can be put on Mister Fantastic for fixing a terrorist. Reed agrees and compares it to him making a weapon, and that anyone hurt in the process would be his fault.

As this debate continues, Sue Storm enters the lab and becomes the voice of reason. She tells Reed to stop acting like he doesn’t want to help. Sue also holds Beast accountable, saying that if Magneto makes a fool of her and her husband, she’ll come after him and Max. With that, the process can begin to once again make Magneto the Master of Magnetism. However, this shows that Reed needs to address being out of touch with the superhero community.

The Fantastic Four Is Increasingly Out Of Touch

Marvel Comics

Paying attention to the state of things is important in any genre a person works in. If you’re a superhero, keeping up with allegiances and what other important figures are up to is key. Not knowing what’s going on can lead to someone working with or attacking the wrong people. In this case, Reed Richards is unaware that Magneto hasn’t been a villain or terrorist for a number of years. In fact, he worked side-by-side with Iron Man to fight Kelvin Heng (Feilong) and his Sentinels during X-Men: Fall of X.

Is it true that Magneto has been a hero, only to become a villain again? Of course. Nevertheless, everything he’s done with Krakoa, protecting Earth during Orchis and Nimrod’s attempt to take over the world should have allowed him some grace. Sadly, it looks like Reed either doesn’t know about that or can’t get over Max’s past. Hopefully, it’s not the latter.

If anyone should know about being forgiven for mistakes, it’s Mister Fantastic. He’s the reason his best friend is a rock monster, did some regrettable things during Marvel Comics’ Civil War, and was complicit in destroying universes during Jonathan Hickman’s build-up to Secret Wars.

In short, instead of being judgmental, maybe give some grace to someone who’s recently been on the side of good. And if Reed ends up with egg on his face, Sue Storm will make sure Beast and Magneto pay for embarrassing her husband and the Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four (2022)