Marvel: 17 Stan Lee created Marvel characters ranked worst to best

3. Magneto

Wait, a villain in the top three? Well, Magneto is more than a villain. In fact, we don’t view him as a villain but as an anti-hero. He has his reasons for his actions and views himself as a savior of his kind. His actions may not be the best for the human race, but they are the best for the people like him. When you look at the man, it’s easy to see why he’s been linked to Malcolm X and Meir Kahane.

Magneto has one of the most interesting and developed backstories. You can’t help but feel for the man behind the powers. A survivor of the Holocaust, he watched his own Jewish people die. The only reason he survived was because of his abilities and that led to expectations and a dark path as he acted to survive.

It’s not ridiculous to say that he’s the most powerful mutant the Marvel series has ever seen. That ability to control and generate magnetic fields leads to the control of everything around him. The only character that may be stronger is Jean Grey but she’s never adapted to her powers as much as Magneto. In fact, Magneto even made sure he has a way to prevent some other mutants’ powers from affecting him. He was brain as well as brawn.

Initially a friend of Professor X, it was impossible for the two to fight together. They both have different ideologies and goals in life. Knowing how the humans react around mutants, he could never work with them. Plus, he views mutants as the dominant species and wants to take control. Yes, there’s an evil in this, but it’s easy to see where that evil has developed as Magneto’s storyline has developed.

He is who he needs to be at the time, making him the most formidable character the comics have ever seen.