Contains spoilers for X-Men Red #5!
The X-Men's Master of Magnetism and the latest member of Mars' ruling council, Magneto has displayed a new level of control of his vast magnetic powers, somehow keeping himself alive in the pages of X-Men Red #5 after Thanos' grand-uncle Uranos literally punched his heart out of his chest.
Magneto has always been an incredibly strong mutant, firmly established as Omega-level in the Krakoan Era, meaning there is no way his powers could be any stronger. Like the mutants Storm and Iceman, Magneto is indelibly connected to a fundamental element of the universe, and while he has shown that he can control literal planets with his powers, the intimate and life-saving use of his abilities in his battle against Uranos is a new ability that has shocked even longtime fans.
Uranos, the monstrous forebear of Thanos, was unleashed upon the mutant planet of Arakko (formerly Mars) by the Eternal Druig in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1, which showed him wiping out much of the Great Ring and its surrounding area in under an hour. However the recent X-Men Red #5 - written by Al Ewing with art by Stefano Caselli and Federico Blee - finally showed the full breadth of Uranos and his war machines' assault on Arakko, which ended with the near genocide of the Arakki people. Magneto, using a mutant power-combo with some fellow Omega-level Arakki mutants, was actually able to injure Uranos, leading to the Excluded Eternal punching through the former villain's chest. It seemed as though Magneto had fallen; a truly terrible death, since Magneto recently destroyed all the back-ups that would have allowed him to be resurrected. Yet Magneto, revealed on the last page of the issue, has grown even more powerful in his time on Arakko, somehow keeping himself alive without a heart.
The reveal of Magneto's survival shows him with a gaping hole in his glowing chest, which hints that his "healing factor" or ability to stay alive might be a lot more straightforward than one might think. A human (or humanoid mutant) has high levels of iron throughout their body, mainly in their blood, and iron is a metal that Magneto is intimately familiar with and able to manipulate, meaning that he could potentially use his powers to keep his blood pumping even without a heart.
Magneto's biggest fear is living through another genocide of his people, and Uranos just almost did this on Arakko, so Magneto would do anything to survive and get vengeance. It seems like he kept himself alive out of sheer determination and anger, meaning Magneto is now coming for Uranos and the Eternals.
With Magneto's shocking survival after a direct assault by Uranos, the "Hour of Magneto" begins, hinting that the X-Men's Master of Magnetism may only need one to find and slaughter Uranos, or at the very least take out all of his war machines and save the rest of Arakko. Magneto has always been one of X-Men's most imposing figures, but in surviving such a devastating injury and immediately seeking vengeance, he's risen to new heights as a truly unstoppable force.
X-Men Red #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.
