Summary

• Magneto's advice to "block him and move on" is an effective strategy for dealing with trolling, even when it comes to powerful villains like Doctor Doom.
• This simple measure of blocking a telepathic connection with Doom prevented further infiltration and conflicts between Krakoa and Latveria.
• Magneto's practical advice can also be applied to everyday situations, such as dealing with trolls on social media.

Warning: Spoilers for X-Men #29!

A flashback in the latest issue of X-Men reveals reformed Marvel supervillain Magneto's advice for how to deal with trolling from an antagonist. In an humorously familiar analogue to how one might handle a troll on the internet, Magneto gave Charles Xavier this advice in response to taunts from Doctor Doom: "block him and move on."

X-Men #29 – by Gerry Duggan, Joshua Cassara, Marte Gracia, and VC's Clayton Cowles – revealed Magneto's simple, yet endlessly effective suggestion for dealing with telepathic incursions from a narcissistic supervillain, a condition he's uniquely qualified to diagnose. "Block him" sounds like such a simple measure and to some readers, maybe even a childish oversimplification of how to eradicate serious threats to the planet.

However, it seems like matching pettiness with pettiness not only makes sense, but is proven to work for the X-Men moving forward, especially dealing with a villain with an ego as massive as that belonging to Doctor Doom.

Magneto's Sage Council: "Block Him and Move On"

X-Men #29 opens with a flashback dating back to the Powers/House of X storyline that kicked off the Krakoa era in style. It features the founders of Krakoa – Professor X, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert – as they were moments away from sending out a worldwide message inviting mutants to the island, making the new nation's presence known worldwide. However, before Xavier sent out that message through Cerebro, his mind was seemingly infiltrated by another voice. That voice was soon revealed to belong to Doctor Doom, using his own Cerebro device to hack into Xavier's, in order to deliver a vaguely threatening message of his own.

Before disconnecting, Doctor Doom expressed that Latveria had no interest in creating diplomatic relations with Krakoa, upon the latter's grand opening. Doom proceeded to run down Xavier and his X-Men's plans for Krakoa, predicting that the Krakoan era was doomed to fail, foretelling doom for the mutant nation, much like Emma Frost before him. When the rogue telepathic call was over, Xavier told Moira and Magneto that it was Doom interrupting their grand unveiling. Magneto's immediate reaction was to tell Xavier to "Block him and move on." While amusing, this also served to display Magneto's ruthless effectiveness, within him as a heroic figure no less than during his own villainous tenure.

Magnero's Advice Is Direct And Practical

Magneto was referring to blocking whatever sort of psychic line connects Xavier's Cerebro with that of Doom's creation, but the same logic can be applied to everyday social media s dealing with trolls in real life. As such, some readers may think this is silly advice, and an all-too-easy way to deal with a mastermind like Doom, but as it turns out, Magneto may actually be on to something. Considering that Doom was never seen to infiltrate Xavier's communications after that, nor did Doom and his nation of Latveria ever have serious conflict with Krakoa, it is safe to say Magneto's advice actually worked.

X-Men #29 is on sale now from Marvel.