Surprising Marvel Characters Who Have Beaten Magneto

Key Takeaways

• Wolverine has heroically defeated Magneto numerous times even though his skeleton is made of metal.
• Psylocke’s betrayal led to her killing Magneto with a psychic knife after he incited a war.
• Captain America outsmarted Magneto by disabling his powers with desert salt in a comic exclusive to 7/11 stores.

There are few supervillains in the history of Marvel Comics who are as iconic as Magneto. The metal-bending mutant is typically an adversary of the X-Men, though he’s often made himself an enemy of many different characters in the Marvel universe. Nevertheless, like many villains, he’s often lost battles against the heroes he’s pitted against.

While there are countless instances of Professor X foiling his former friend, there are plenty of other characters who have surprisingly defeated Magneto. Whether it’s because their powers seem especially susceptible to his powers, or specifically how they were able to defeat him, fans may be surprised to learn these heroes have bested Magneto.

1 Wolverine

The Iconic X-Man Should Be Useless Against Magneto

As one of the most famous characters in the X-Men, it’s not that surprising that Logan has heroically defeated Magneto numerous times in the comics. However, the mutant’s ability to fight Erik Lensherr has been often debated, given that Wolverine’s entire skeleton is made of metal, giving Magneto a very obvious advantage against Charles Xavier’s protégé.

However, despite his lack of being a team player, Logan has been known to work together with the X-Men to stop Magneto. In the Ultimate X-Men storyline, Logan originally joined the X-Men as an agent of Magneto, before turning on his master. A What If…? storyline also featured Wolverine originally working for Magneto before fatally killing him.

2 Psylocke

Magneto’s Fellow Evil Mutant Has Betrayed Him

Psylocke is often an ally of Magneto, as a member of his own iteration of the X-Men alongside Polaris, Mystique, and Sabretooth. However, Psylocke had little trust in Magneto over the years, believing him to be manipulative and having ulterior motives. She even promised to kill him if he ever betrayed humankind, and unsurprisingly, Magneto did.

In the Uncanny X-Men series from 2017, Psylocke kills Magneto with her psychic knife after Magneto incites a war between X-Men and Inhumans. She ended up leaving the X-Men shortly after, believing they were better off without her, but Magneto didn’t stay dead for long. He was shortly after resurrected by Exodus via the Elixir.

3 Captain America

Not Even Magneto Can Stop Cap’s Shield

Like Wolverine, Captain America seems uniquely outmatched by a villain like Magneto, given that his primary weapon is a shield made of vibranium. However, this exclusive comic to 7/11 stores in 1981 featured Cap teaming up with the Hulk against the iconic X-Men villain. Initially, Magneto has the upper hand against Cap until the Hulk shows up to assist.

However, it’s Cap’s strategy that disarms Magneto, by throwing desert salt into the supervillain’s eyes. Because salt is a non-magnetic solid, Magneto’s powers were disabled enough for Cap to incapacitate him and have him arrested. Thankfully, what Cap lacked in brawn against the mutant he made up for in brains.

4 Iron Man

Tony Needed A Cheat Code To Defeat This Mutant

The Iron Man vs. Magneto match-up was highly anticipated by Marvel Comics readers before the release of Avengers vs. X-Men. Typically, it would seem as if Magneto can easily squash Iron Man with a flick of the wrist, but Stark was a few steps ahead of the mutant mastermind. Issue #2 follows a large battle between Avengers and X-Men.

Rather than show up to battle with his typical metal suit, Stark has fashioned an Iron Man armor made of carbon nanotubes, allowing him to resist not only Magneto’s metal-bending but even psychic attacks from other X-Men like Emma Frost. For their rematch, Magneto shows up with his own Iron Man suit but still loses the fight by getting distracted.

5 Namor

The First Mutant Doesn’t Play Nice With Others

Namor’s allegiances have always been dubious in Marvel Comics, appearing as both an ally and villain throughout his history. However, in this early Fantastic Four comic, the First Mutant teamed up with Marvel’s First Family after Magneto took control of the Atlantean army. Namor initially follows Reed Richards’ advice to pretend to side with Magneto.

Ultimately, Namor leads Magneto into a trap as The Fantastic Four (and Crystal) corners the mutant villain in Central Park. It’s only when Namor turns on Magneto that the supervillain realizes he’s been fooled, and The Fantastic Four is quick to incapacitate him and return the Atlantean army to Namor’s control.

6 Mockingbird

She’s Pretty Strong For A S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent

What makes Mockingbird such a surprising victor over Magneto is how underestimated she is as a hero, despite having super-soldier powers and being a very capable S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. In the alternate universe of Earth-110, Mockingbird was teamed up with the Avengers and Fantastic Four opposing an alliance of villains including Magneto and Dr. Doom.

After her husband Hawkeye was killed in battle by Magneto, an enraged Mockingbird subdued the mutant villain. The defeat of Magneto, in this instance, saved Magneto’s alliance of villains, including even Ultron and Namor, from taking over Manhattan, making this one of the most consequential defeats of the supervillain in Marvel Comics history.

7 Kingpin

This Kingpin Variant Waited Until Erik Was Weak

Most Marvel Comics fans are familiar with the Wilson Fisk version of Kingpin, but the multiverse has explored other adopters of the moniker who have done impressive things. One example of this is in the “Old Man Logan” story arc, which takes place on Earth-807128. This version of Kingpin is notorious for having killed Magneto and taken his throne.

However, this Kingpin also waited until Magneto was old and weak to do away with him, and in his debut appearance was overthrown by Punisher, Daredevil, and Spider-B***h. Still, it’s much more than the Earth-616 iteration of Kingpin was able to do, as he’s never come close to dethroning a supervillain like Magneto before.

8 Scarlet Witch

Even Magneto’s Own Family Have Defeated Him

Scarlet Witch has a strong relationship with Magneto, given that some iterations of the character have been Magneto’s daughter. However, she and her twin brother Quicksilver notably betray Magneto early on in the X-Men comic timeline, after disagreeing with Magneto’s plans to kill the X-Men.

Wanda uses her powers to disable Magneto’s magnetic abilities, though she and Quicksilver aren’t necessarily accepted into the X-Men so easily. She remains an antagonist to the X-Men, especially after Quicksilver is captured by the team of mutants. Still, her being able to disarm Magneto so early in her history foreshadowed Wanda’s inevitable powers-to-be.

9 Mr. Fantastic

Only A Genius Like Reed Richards Could Trap Magneto

Fans have already seen Reed Richards help defeat Magneto before in their aid of Namor. However, the comic series Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men features another instance where Mr. Fantastic gets the best of Magneto, though their initial meeting is cordial as Magneto contacts Richards in search of a device to cure Kitty Pryde of a fatal condition.

The Fantastic Four are split on whether to help Magneto or not, though Richards ultimately decides to help him. It’s not surprising when, after the device is built and Richards hesitates to use it on a living being, Magneto tries to steal it, resulting in a battle that, despite Magneto losing, ultimately convinces Richards to successfully cure Shadowcat.

10 She-Hulk

Jen Walters Beat Two Supervillains With One Throw

She-Hulk has done a lot of crazy things over the years in Marvel Comics, but this one Marvel Comics Presents takes the cake. In the story “X-Mas Tease…,” Walters is alone on Christmas Eve when she’s ambushed by Doctor Doom. However, Walters quickly realizes that this Doom is a robot created by Magneto, who reveals himself as the mastermind.

Sadly, this Magneto doesn’t seem like much of a mastermind after Walters chucks the robot Doom at Magneto. Although this comic is much more humorous and satirical than an average Marvel Comics adventure, it shows that She-Hulk is capable of defeating Magneto very easily, so who knows what she could do if they were to actually battle?