The X-Men are Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants, but none of them are mightier than Magneto. Perhaps the most powerful of all mutants, Erik Lehnsherr made his first appearance in the comics in 1963 and he has endured the test of time, remaining of the most widely-recognized X-Men characters to this day.
It’s not surprising when there are adaptations in the mainstream quite regularly, from the original X-Men movie series to the recent Disney Plus series X-Men ’97, he’s been at the forefront of many of the classic characters’ most well-known adventures. And his powers – and the drive behind them – continue to captivate audiences.
Magneto is a complicated individual, which makes him a powerful character in many senses of the word. He has the ability to manipulate and move metal with his mind, controlling magnetic fields all around him with ease. He's a longtime enemy of the X-Men, as well as an occasional friend to them. Like I said, he's a complicated individual.
One of the things that has made Magneto so fascinating to audiences over the years is how his way of thinking directly conflicts the viewpoint of Professor Charles Xavier; his longtime friend who he loudly disagrees with. Magneto believes mutants are the next step in evolution, making them superior to humans. That makes him a threat to the world, and one that Professor X and the X-Men regularly has to stop.
As we mentioned above, the character's popularity has seen him make the jump onto both the big and small screen over the years. From animated TV shows to live-action film franchises, we've seen a number of actors take on the role of the metal-moving mutant. The question is: Who played Magneto the best?
Honorable mentions
Being that Magneto is one of the most popular characters in both the Marvel Comics and X-Men lore, it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that he has featured in a number of animated shows over the years. The fact that he's the X-Men's most notorious nemesis makes him an easy choice for guest spots on shows featuring the mutants or other Marvel characters.
Of course, there are actors more commonly associated with the role due to the properties they played him in or the amount of time they spent voicing him, but every actor is a major part of the character's legacy. So before we dive into the more well-known versions of Erik Lehnsherr, let's take a moment to acknowledge the other actors who have voiced him over the years.
- Bernard Cowen - Spider-Man (1967)
- John Stephenson - The New Fantastic Four
- Walker Edmiston - Spider-Man (1981)
- Michael Rye - Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends
- Earl Boen - X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men
- Maurice LaMarche - The Super Hero Squad
- Ron Halder - Iron Man: Armored Adventures
- Banjō Ginga / Neil Kaplan - Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers
Among those performances there were also some actors who would become synonymous with the role. Let's take a look at them and figure out who's Magneto was the best of them all.
6. Christopher Judge
Appeared in: X-Men: Evolution
These days, Christopher Judge is renowned for his role as Kratos in the God of War video game saga, but he also did a damn fine job as Magneto in 2000's animated series X-Men: Evolution. That series is one of the more underrated adaptations of Marvel's mighty mutants, and we should acknowledge how innovative it was more often. We should also acknowledge just how good its voice cast was.
Judge's interpretation of Magneto leans more into the intimidating aspects of the character. He speaks with a calm, collected and cold tone. It's echoed too, which adds a much more supernatural quality to the portrayal. This complements X-Men: Evolution's character design and animation, which paints Magneto as a figure of darkness who commands his will from the shadows. It's a very intimidating portrayal.
We know what Magneto can do, and we know that his reputation precedes him; but Christopher Judge ensured that it all came to life by simply uttering a few words. You knew that Magneto was to be feared, and you did fear him every single time he appeared on-screen.
The only critique here is that Magneto should have been a more regular part of the show, because he was so darn captivating.
5. Tom Kane
Appeared in: Wolverine and the X-Men
Another actor whose Magneto performance we simply don't appreciate enough is Tom Kane's. He voiced the character in the 2009 animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, appearing in 13 episodes of its 26-episode run. That should tell you how important Magneto was to the overall series' story and that certainly comes across in Kane' portrayal.
He understood the assignment well, approaching the iconic role with refinery, portraying Magneto almost as if he were an older, esteemed gentlemen. It's very striking and it once again highlights why the character's reputation precedes him. He lives up to that reputation in Wolverine and the X-Men, as seen in the scene above, and can take on the bulk of the X-Men without even breaking a sweat. Kane's calm tones conveyed this well, and it was really quite the thrill-ride to watch the character so at ease when being so dominant.
There are similarities between Kane's voice performance and Ian McKellen's live-action offering in Fox's X-Men film series and that's a good thing as McKellen's outing is undoubtedly the most iconic version of the character. It adds an air of regality to Magneto while also allowing Kane to do his own thing at the same time. The result is the perfect blend for this veteran, almost-unstoppable version of Magneto.
4. Matthew Waterson
Appeared in: X-Men '97
Marvel Animation did something that fans have been longing to see for decades when they revived X-Men: The Animated Series in the form of new Disney Plus show X-Men '97. Set over a year after its predecessor, the sequel series' first season ran for 10 episodes, introducing new audiences to the critically-acclaimed world of Marvel's Mightiest Mutants. It also brought back the vast majority of the original voice cast (in either the same or new roles). However, actor David Hemblen, who voiced Magneto in the original series had sadly passed away in 2020, so Matthew Waterson was cast in the role.
Waterson had a tough task in following Hemblen's iconic performance but he pulled it off extremely well, delivering a performance that is both loyal to his predecessor and unique in its own right. You can hear the inspiration of Hemblen's Magneto in there, but Waterson adds a deeper, more restrained tone to it. And that works given the more mature nature of X-Men '97.
The villain-turned-X-Men-leader has his most important storyline in the sequel series, which gave Waterson a lot of meaty material to work with. Although the quietness in his voice comes off as an attempt to be restrained like Charles Xavier wanted him to be in those earlier episodes, it's soon revealed to be due to years of being worn down by humanity's treatment of mutants. And that comes into play throughout the show's "Magneto was right" storyline, in which Waterson is nothing short of phenomenal.
His performance was a worthy tribute to Hemblen and an incredibly powerful iteration of Magneto in its own right; one that we can't wait to see grow and evolve throughout the series.
3. David Hemblen
Appeared in: X-Men: The Animated Series
The late, great David Hemblen voiced Magneto in X-Men: The Animated Series, which makes his portrayal of the character the most famous among the many animated interpretations. The 1992 cartoon is widely considered to be one of the greatest animated shows of all time and a large part of that is down to its exceptional voice cast.
Hemblen's performance as Magneto was one of the finest on the show. He first showed up in the third episode of the series and made an instant impression. His voice was a powerful one, and it grabbed your attention right from the offset; it made even the character's more typically villainous dialogue sound convincing and realistic. He also worked extremely well with actor Cedric Smith, adding depth and nuance to the long-standing friendship between Magneto and Charles Xavier.
Hemblen sadly passed away in 2020, so the role of Magneto was recast for sequel series X-Men '97. It goes without saying that he made such an indelible mark on the character that it it's almost impossible to imagine anyone else voicing him (although Matthew Waterson is a worthy successor). His Magneto will live on as one of the greatest interpretations of the character to ever grace the screen.
For many, his portrayal remains the definitive version of Magneto, and it isn't hard to see why.
2. Michael Fassbender
Appeared in: X-Men film series
When Fox's X-Men movie series decided to take a trip into the past, it introduced us to a new cast of younger actors. That included Magneto, who was now played by Michael Fassbender. He did a wonderful job of both replicating Ian McKellen's performance as the older, more established Magneto while also adding his own original spin on him. The result was incredible.
Fassbender had a much more comic-accurate suit (perhaps aided by the fact that the movies he appeared in were made during an era where superheroes were embraced much more on the big screen) and that only adds to the fact that his Magneto is more loyal to the source material. There are times when it looks and feels as if Fassbender's portrayal is the live-action personification of the Magneto from X-Men: The Animated Series and I think that's the biggest compliment I could give it.
His standout moment has to be the legendary speech during X-Men: Days of Future Past which is just captivating. Fassbender's performances imbues an already-powerful moment with a sense of gravity, of power, that just makes it so goosebump-inducing to watch. He also shows us a more vulnerable side to the character, which strengthens him as a villain.
He's phenomenal, and it is so easy to see why so many fans consider him the best Magneto. It's so close because he's so good.
1. Ian McKellen
Appeared in: X-Men film series
Ian McKellen is unquestionably one of the finest actors to ever grace the stage and screen, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to see him at the top of this list. His performance as Magneto in Fox's X-Men film series is nothing short of legendary, and for darn good reason.
McKellen's rich theater background showed here, as he channelled all of that and more into making Magneto a larger-than-life character. From his quiet, dramatic monologues to his loud bellowing impassioned speeches, he commanded the screen with such ease that you couldn't help but sit up and pay attention whenever he was on it.
There was a nuance to his performance too that only an actor of McKellen's caliber could pull off. It was subtle, but ever-present beneath the theatrics, and it made it clear why Magneto was willing to fight for the mutant representation in the way that he did. And even though the character had a knack for going too far every time, you could see the driving force behind his actions.
Ian McKellen's performance was the one that brought Magneto into a live-action production for the first time ever, and it's still the one that reigns supreme among his many great portrayals all these years later. He is the definitive Magneto, and he will remain so for a long time to come.