What should happen to the Lehnsherr family?

[jmc247]

The future of Magneto and his family is more up in the air then it has been in my life time. With the mutant population reduced to dozens, what would direction would you liked to see Magneto and his family take (including Polaris).

[Beast]

There's more than a few dozen mutants left on the earth.

We've already seen the direction that Quicksilver and Polaris have taken, and Scarlet Witch will be in New Avengers #26. All that's left is Magneto, and I'm sure he'll probably rear his head for Uncanny X-Men #500. :D

[jmc247]

There's more than a few dozen mutants left on the earth.


Given the number of plot devices going around now re-empowering mutants you are probably right.

[Beast]

Given the number of plot devices going around now re-empowering mutants you are probably right.
Well, there already were more than a few dozen. Even if 99% of the mutant population lost their powers, there still would be a fairly substantial number. Of course, it depends on what number you base the 'Before' HoM/Decimation total on. Morrison's New X-Men said 16 Million. Marvel says 2 Million.

[jmc247]

Well, there already were more than a few dozen. Even if 99% of the mutant population lost their powers, there still would be a fairly substantial number. Of course, it depends on what number you base the 'Before' HoM/Decimation total on.

Didn't Emma say in House of M #8 that there were only a few hundred left?

[Beast]

Didn't Emma say in House of M #8 that there were only a few hundred left?
There wasn't a reliable count at the time. O*N*E confirmed 198 known mutants retaining their powers very early, but the numbers have grown since that early estimate.

[jmc247]

There is still too few for Magneto in that he no longer believes mutants have any hope to claim their rightful place in society in his life time.

That fact alone might make it a good idea to give him a few years before the writers decide it is time again for Magneto to use violence to try to bring mutants to their rightful place in society again.

That said I would like for him to meet up with Wanda and maybe help out with the X-Men again for awhile. Hopefully we won't have to wait until Uncanny 500, which will probably take a year to a year and a half to make it to market to see Magneto again.

I go every week to the comic story and always have several new comics with Wolverine. A new Magneto comic every 3-6 months isn't much to ask.

[Arilou]

I want to see Wamda meet Nocturne.

[sithjeff]

Family brawl, each fighting for their own cause.

It would make a pretty cool issue.

[CE_Rap]

I really liked Lorna under Magneto's tuteledge. **question** does Mags know about Lorna? If not, they should have a moment when he finds out. If yes, they should still have a moment. Not a "Daddy" moment or anything cheesy, but something where, when she comes back, he actually trains her in her powers. Like an Xavier/Jean--Rachel relationship.

At this point, MAgneto trying to "destroy the city" stories aren't cutting it anymore. The last time i thought it was stellar was Fatal Attractions, with Magneto Rex a close second. I didn't like the New X-Men one and even though it wasn't him, it ruined the chances for him to go done that road again. He should really just be more subdued at this point.

Instead of demanding Human Superior be the rulers of the world, he could train the next generation to do just that. His approach would be more aggressive than Xavier's, but i would hope that he's gotten past the "direct assault" mentality. He's still a man who doesn't wish to see mutant life needlessly sacrificed, even if they follow Xavier.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

The future of Magneto and his family is more up in the air then it has been in my life time. With the mutant population reduced to dozens, what would direction would you liked to see Magneto and his family take (including Polaris).

Magneto should get his powers back and go after Polaris. Make that a limited series. Even get Luna, Havok, and other doubters involved.

Polaris should leave the X-Men and join Magneto's cause fo good.

Wanda could be the Anti-Mutant one of the family, like she demonstrated in House of M #7.

Quicksilver? Who cares. He SUCKS right now. Let him continue to repower mutants, I guess.

Luna? Put her with Magneto for half a year too.

[mattbib]

There is no Lensherr family. Lensherr is an assumed name.

[originalxmen]

It would be absolutely brilliant if an alien empire decided to kill them all because of their impressive genes!

[jmc247]

There is no Lensherr family. Lensherr is an assumed name.

That was true until the writers retconned it, by continually refering to Magneto as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. He even says in New Avengers 20 that Erik Magnus Lehnsherr is my human name.

[ibrakeforchinwe]

Orf wif their 'eds!

[Young Avenger]

Don't forgot Wiccan and Speed. Wanda's twin children

[jmc247]

Don't forgot Wiccan and Speed. Wanda's twin children

huh, I though they were made up.

[Young Avenger]

huh, I though they were made up.

This is why people should read Young Avengers.

When souls of Wanda's twins were reabsorbed into Mephisto, they destroyed him and their souls were reincarnated as Tommy and Billy. They still exist.

[Will.S]

Quicksilver? Who cares. He SUCKS right now. Let him continue to repower mutants, I guess.
Why does he suck?

[Rivka]

That was true until the writers retconned it, by continually refering to Magneto as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. He even says in New Avengers 20 that Erik Magnus Lehnsherr is my human name.


Erik Lehnsherr is an assumed name. Magnus was given the name by the forger Georg Odekirk, as part of the false identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte" in order to search for his runaway wife Magda more effectively amongst her own people, and to hide from the police and KGB who were searching for him for the destruction of part of Vinnitsa. It is not Magneto's real name.

If writers refer to Magneto as "Erik Lehnsherr" it's because they've either made a mistake, or, it's what the majority of the Marvel Universe knows to be Magneto's name. No one knows his birth name, which he has diligently kept secret for all these years.

It's not important to argue about this all the time -- which is why I didn't say anything in the "Anya Lehnsherr" thread. But Anya's last name wasn't "Lensherr" and neither was Magda's married name. Magneto has deliberately kept this last name secret.

As for what Magneto was writing in NA #20, it was a public document, meant to be read by others, and he certainly wasn't going to reveal his real name at that time, if he'd kept his true parents and birth name a secret all these years for some very good reasons.

It's the "Magnus" family, if you will. That's why it was called "HOUSE OF MAGNUS" or "HOUSE OF M." Wanda knows "Lehnsherr" isn't Magneto's real name, and so does Xavier.

"Erik Lehnsherr" has become Magneto's name, like "Stan Lee" is the name the whole world knows Stanley Lieber by. While Magneto is his code-name, or revolutionary name. (Even though it was originally his code name when he worked for Mossad and some other Western intelligence agency. So it was a name given to him by "humans" also. But that's the truth, and Magneto's "manifesto" in NA #20 wasn't really about confessing all his sins or telling his real life story. Magneto didn't even know what it was supposed to be -- a manifesto, a suicide note, a biography, he didn't really know what he was doing.)

He has probably been using the name "Erik Lehnsherr" for close to 40 years, Marvel Time, so it's like his adopted name at this point.

[jmc247]

Erik Lehnsherr is an assumed name. Magnus was given the name by the forger Georg Odekirk, as part of the false identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte" in order to search for his runaway wife Magda more effectively amongst her own people, and to hide from the police and KGB who were searching for him for the destruction of part of Vinnitsa. It is not Magneto's real name.


I am well aware of the history, but there are a dozen times in the Excalibur series where they use that as his real name. Including in a cut scene of the Holocaust where they say his name exactly as if that was the one that he used back then.

But, not only that in X-Men the End the writers go as far as have Magneto say "The Line of Lehnsherr is no more".

The writers have decided that Lehnsherr is his real name. It is the name they used in both animated series, it is the name they used in the movies, and it is the name they now use in the comics.

I know the supposed history of the name in the comics, but the writers have changed their minds or forgot their origional story.

[Rivka]

Why does he suck?


Exactly. For gosh sakes, Pietro is being written better now than in ages!

I want to see him stay in X-FACTOR and I want Peter David to keep on writing him. Pietro said some veerrry interesting things in X-FACTOR #10. Or rather, he started rationalizing his actions in some very interesting ways.

I'd love to see Quicksilver stay permanently with X-FACTOR, or at least stay for a few more years. Hopefully the book will last a few more years! But when Bendis was interviewed in that huge 3-part Bendis Tapes extravaganza, he said -- regarding Quicksilver's future -- To Be Announced, or something like that. I don't know if that means, Pietro's future is still being decided, or Marvel has already made plans, and he's just passing through X-FACTOR. In any case, I vote keeping him in X-FACTOR where Peter David, who has always written Petey better than just about anybody else (save maybe David Hine), can put him through his paces.

As for Wanda -- I would like to see her go in a direction she's never gone before. And it would be about time. Imagine the most sophisticated and beautiful European women of the last 50 years -- like Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve -- in a figure-hugging designer two-piece suit, long legs with high heels, hair up in a chignon, dark glasses It's about time Wanda stopped all that peasant stuff. It's about time she stopped acting like a victim. It's about time she became wealthy, polished, and in control.

I've posted many times now, on various message boards, about Magneto. He's not a mutant any longer. What powers he has, aren't his old powers -- not quite. He should have to learn all over again how to use them. I do NOT want to see him return as a raving rat-bastard, or the eevil Magneto, or a scheming villain attacking the X-Men and kidnapping Xavier and getting beaten by a bunch of second-rate X-ers. The same old thing, over and over.

Now is the time for Magneto to reconsider his life. What mutant will want anything to do with him? By his own rules, his own standards, he is not worthy -- he's not a mutant. He's a super, a mutate. He has been hoisted on his own petard. Not only that, but he failed utterly to protect the mutants of Genosha. This after blackmailing the world into giving him a mutant homeland, inviting mutants there -- promising loudly and repeatedly that HE, MAGNETO, would never let another Holoaust happen to his mutant people. But he failed completely to prevent the slaughter of 16-million mutants and the total destruction of Genosha. How can mutants -- what's left of them -- look up to him now? In addition, the word is spreading in the mutant community that Wanda, Magneto's daughter, is the one who decimated the mutant population that survived Genosha! If I were a mutant in the Marvel Universe, the last thing I'd want is anything more of Magneto or his family! With protectors and leaders like that, they don't need enemies.

And Magneto should be portrayed as deep enough, basically good enough, intelligent enough, to begin to understand this. I'd like him to declare "Magneto dead." Really. I'd like him to bury "Magneto" and give up all his hideaways and secret places and belongings, and then leave his material wealth (which would be considerable after all these years) to Wanda and Pietro. Billions, including companies and holdings -- leave Wanda the businesses, believe it or not. She'd be the best able to handle them, and she'd make even more billions. She'd be wealthier than Tony Stark -- let her come to New York and buy her own Avenger's Tower! Hah, take that Stark!
Pietro would get the art and the money -- it would appeal to his arrogance.

Anyway, it's just a kind of logical move for Marvel to make. Especially if Magneto is declared dead, and he's already set up some kind of contigency with lawyers (trusted sons and grandsons of fellow Holocaust survivors who would be completely loyal to him, no matter what he'd done) to disperse his estate once he was gone, to Wanda and Pietro.

Poor Lorna -- since I don't believe she's really Magneto's daughter, and he was just using her -- she shouldn't get a cent. But in any case, she still won't get a cent, because she's not Magda's child, and because Magneto didn't recognize her until it was too late. Maybe Wanda and Pietro would share.

Seriously, I want to see Wanda as the exquisite, classy, elegant European beauty that she is.

I want to see Pietro come to terms with the touch of psychosis he's got going on now, with a little help from friends like Rahne and Maddrox and (well maybe not) Guido -- because friendship is something that has always eluded him before.

I want to see Magneto be forced to reexamine everything about this "Magneto" role he's been living for the last 12 years Marvel time, without, and I repeat WITHOUT becoming a Xavierite. I want to see him gather people around him who genuinely respect him, like the kids from EXCALIBUR vol.3. I want to see him make choices about what kind of man he should be, that don't involve Charles Xavier telling him what kind of man he should be.

I of course ask for way too much. >>sigh<<

But I say again, what I've said so many times before, truly great comic book writing, truly great characterization, grows from within the characters themselves, from their histories and established personalities. Great writers don't need to trample on or destroy, or do bigotted or stupid things to a character's history, to do something entirely new with a character. And I'm not really criticizing Marvel right now -- I'm just afraid that the editors and writers will fail to maintain the current high level of creativity and excitement and fall back on the usual narrow-minded and blinkered BS.

[Rivka]

I am well aware of the history, but there are a dozen times in the Excalibur series where they use that as his real name. Including in a cut scene of the Holocaust where they say his name exactly as if that was the one that he used back then.

But, not only that in X-Men the End the writers go as far as have Magneto say "The Line of Lehnsherr is no more".

The writers have decided that Lehnsherr is his real name. It is the name they used in both animated series, it is the name they used in the movies, and it is the name they now use in the comics.

I know the supposed history of the name in the comics, but the writers have changed their minds or forgot their origional story.

No, they haven't. Check out the Marvel.com biography of Magneto, and the Official Handbook.

Lehnsherr is an assumed name.

The "writers" have not decided anything. In fact, it was Claremont who used the "Lehnsherr" name most often. But it still is not Magneto's birth name. Magneto has no reason to take his real name as his false name, when he's hiding from the police and when he wants to keep his birth-family a secret.

It is not the "supposed" history in the comics, it is the history in the comics. Lehnsherr is an assumed name. Magneto's real name is unrevealed at this point. The movie-verse and animated series are not the same continuity as the comics, comparing them is like apples and oranges.

"Erik Lehnsherr" is a forged name. No writer has forgotten that -- and why Claremont used the name in THE END series, is because that's the name Magneto has adopted. Whenever he's speaking in public, or referring to his name in a public medium, he will probably use Lehnsherr.

But the only part of his name that is possibly real is "Magnus."

[jmc247]

The "writers" have not decided anything. In fact, it was Claremont who used the "Lehnsherr" name most often. But it still is not Magneto's birth name.


I am well aware of what the writers origionally wrote. But, I also know what the writers have been writing the past two decades. The writers have used the name Lehnsherr in the comics in ways that go far beyond an assumed name, hell just watch the X-Men episode The Sanctuary and the house the Nazi's break into has the name "Lehnsherrs" in big bold letters. And, from X-Men Evolution he says his name is Erik Lehnsherr in the flashback scene when he was a child during the Holocaust, and they use Lehnsherr in the x-Men movies. But, if you are just interested in the comics there are numerous instances since the 90s that writers use Lehnsherr as his origional name.

[Will.S]

Exactly. For gosh sakes, Pietro is being written better now than in ages!

I want to see him stay in X-FACTOR and I want Peter David to keep on writing him. Pietro said some veerrry interesting things in X-FACTOR #10. Or rather, he started rationalizing his actions in some very interesting ways. I'd love to see Quicksilver stay permanently with X-FACTOR, or at least stay for a few more years. Hopefully the book will last a few more years!
It is interesting how Quicksilver found his way back into Peter David's hands again in X-Factor isn't it? He always writes an awesome Quicksilver anyway so I guess he couldn't be in better hands although Marvel might have plans for him somewhere down the line.

But when Bendis was interviewed in that huge 3-part Bendis Tapes extravaganza, he said -- regarding Quicksilver's future -- To Be Announced, or something like that. I don't know if that means, Pietro's future is still being decided, or Marvel has already made plans, and he's just passing through X-FACTOR. In any case, I vote keeping him in X-FACTOR where Peter David, who has always written Petey better than just about anybody else (save maybe David Hine), can put him through his paces.
I'm guessing Quicksilver is going to factor in somewhere when the Inhumans show up on earth since he's a walking terrigenesis chamber and he totally stabbed them in the back. I hope he runs into the Avengers again too since Disassembled/House of M while cool weren't exactly happier times.

[Babylon23]

So, we have Quicksilver in X-Factor, Nocturne in Excalibur, the kids in Young Avengers, and the Scarlet Witch in New Avengers. Sounds like a big crossover event to me.

[Rivka]

I am well aware of what the writers origionally wrote. But, I also know what the writers have been writing the past two decades. The writers have used the name Lehnsherr in the comics in ways that go far beyond an assumed name, hell just watch the X-Men episode The Sanctuary and the house the Nazi's break into has the name "Lehnsherrs" in big bold letters. And, from X-Men Evolution he says his name is Erik Lehnsherr in the flashback scene when he was a child during the Holocaust, and they use Lehnsherr in the x-Men movies. But, if you are just interested in the comics there are numerous instances since the 90s that writers use Lehnsherr as his origional name.

The cartoon is not the same as comic book continuity. "Erik Lehnsherr" is not Magneto's real name. You can say the earth is flat, and the sky is orange, but that doesn't make it so. The writers have not been writing "Lehnsherr" for the last two decades, but only since 1992. And we found out that "Lehnsherr" is a false name in 1998.

As has been described to you, Magneto uses the name "Lehnsherr" because it's his adopted name. A name that appears on his forged papers. It's a name he's used for approximately 40 years Marvel time. Do you use the name "Stan Lee" when referring to the creator of much of the modern Marvel Universe? Does the name "Stan Lee" appear in all the comics that had the "Stan Lee Presents" introduction? But "Stan Lee" is not Mr. Lee's birth name. It's the name he took and has used most of his adult life, and now it's the name everyone and the world knows him by. He calls himself Stan Lee.

Are you saying that because writers have used the name Lehnsherr in stories that depict Magneto using the name, this makes it his real name? Because that's just kind of silly. It is not his real name. Any more than "Logan" is Wolverine's real name, even though we've had countless stories that have identified Wolverine only as "Logan." But now we know what his birth name is. If a writer uses the name "Logan" in a future Wolverine story, this doesn't make "James Howlett" any less Wolverine's real name.

I think Marvel took a stand on the name situation recently when the name of the summer even last year was HOUSE OF MAGNUS -- because both Wanda and Xavier knew, that Lehnsherr isn't Magneto's real last name. Just like Xavier uses "Erik" all the time when addressing Magneto. It's the only name he knows him by. It's the name he used when the two first met in Israel years ago.

In any case, like I said, it's hard to argue with someone who is insisting that 1 + 1 = 3 because some people have written 1 + 1 = 3.

"Erik Lehnsherr" is an assumed name. It is a forged name. It is a false name, a stage name, an adopted name. A pseudonyme. Magneto has no other name to use -- because he's keeping it secret. What do you want him to do, go around saying, "My name is I-can't-tell-you-because-I'm-protecting-my-family-name-and-heritage" ...? He uses Lehnsherr as his adopted name. Writers write Lehnsherr, mostly appropriately in the context of what the world knows about Magneto. The few times that the name has been used in narration (the ubiquitous narrator of comic books), have been mistakes. That Claremont made a couple of these mistakes, somehow doesn't surprise me. But if it makes you feel any better, just put the "Erik Lehnsherr" name in quotation marks when reading the narration of EXCALIBUR #9. In X-MEN:THE END, Magneto is again making a public statement.

[Gene M.]

Mandatory castration.

[Rivka]

It is interesting how Quicksilver found his way back into Peter David's hands again in X-Factor isn't it? He always writes an awesome Quicksilver anyway so I guess he couldn't be in better hands although Marvel might have plans for him somewhere down the line.


I'm guessing Quicksilver is going to factor in somewhere when the Inhumans show up on earth since he's a walking terrigenesis chamber and he totally stabbed them in the back. I hope he runs into the Avengers again too since Disassembled/House of M while cool weren't exactly happier times.

So we have, as Babylon23 says, Nocturne in NEW EXCALIBUR, and the twin boys in YOUNG AVENGERS, and as you say, the involvement of the Inhumans. Someone once did a six-degrees of separation kind of thing with Magneto and his children, and it pretty much covered the entire Marvel Universe. Including the High Evolutionary.

Is Jessica Drew's father the same guy who once was the partner of the High Evolutionary, and had something to do with the battle against Chthon on the night Wanda was born? I have vague memories of the Evolutionary War cycle.

[jmc247]

In any case, like I said, it's hard to argue with someone who is insisting that 1 + 1 = 3 because some people have written 1 + 1 = 3.



Jezzz, don't get angry about this. But, that said you aren't reading what I am writing. I know you are right when it comes to what comic book writers origionally wrote about Magneto's history. But, I also know that they have in recient years a number of writers have forgotten or ignored that.

Mandatory castration

Mags does seem to get it on more then most of Marvel's villians. I remember he was with Wasp in Secret Wars.

[Babylon23]

Is Jessica Drew's father the same guy who once was the partner of the High Evolutionary, and had something to do with the battle against Chthon on the night Wanda was born? I have vague memories of the Evolutionary War cycle.

Jonathon Drew was the High Evolutionary's partner, although that part of Jessica's origin appears to have been retconned in Spider-Woman: Origin, leaving the High Evolutionary with a big hole where his origin used to be.

If we're including Nocturne, we could also include Nightcrawler in the family tree.

[Will.S]

If we're including Nocturne, we could also include Nightcrawler in the family tree.I'm kind of hesitant to do that though since Nocturne is from an alternate reality even though her parents are those characters.

[Omega Alpha]

Exactly. For gosh sakes, Pietro is being written better now than in ages!

I want to see him stay in X-FACTOR and I want Peter David to keep on writing him. Pietro said some veerrry interesting things in X-FACTOR #10. Or rather, he started rationalizing his actions in some very interesting ways.

I'd love to see Quicksilver stay permanently with X-FACTOR, or at least stay for a few more years. Hopefully the book will last a few more years! But when Bendis was interviewed in that huge 3-part Bendis Tapes extravaganza, he said -- regarding Quicksilver's future -- To Be Announced, or something like that. I don't know if that means, Pietro's future is still being decided, or Marvel has already made plans, and he's just passing through X-FACTOR. In any case, I vote keeping him in X-FACTOR where Peter David, who has always written Petey better than just about anybody else (save maybe David Hine), can put him through his paces.

As for Wanda -- I would like to see her go in a direction she's never gone before. And it would be about time. Imagine the most sophisticated and beautiful European women of the last 50 years -- like Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve -- in a figure-hugging designer two-piece suit, long legs with high heels, hair up in a chignon, dark glasses It's about time Wanda stopped all that peasant stuff. It's about time she stopped acting like a victim. It's about time she became wealthy, polished, and in control.

I've posted many times now, on various message boards, about Magneto. He's not a mutant any longer. What powers he has, aren't his old powers -- not quite. He should have to learn all over again how to use them. I do NOT want to see him return as a raving rat-bastard, or the eevil Magneto, or a scheming villain attacking the X-Men and kidnapping Xavier and getting beaten by a bunch of second-rate X-ers. The same old thing, over and over.

Now is the time for Magneto to reconsider his life. What mutant will want anything to do with him? By his own rules, his own standards, he is not worthy -- he's not a mutant. He's a super, a mutate. He has been hoisted on his own petard. Not only that, but he failed utterly to protect the mutants of Genosha. This after blackmailing the world into giving him a mutant homeland, inviting mutants there -- promising loudly and repeatedly that HE, MAGNETO, would never let another Holoaust happen to his mutant people. But he failed completely to prevent the slaughter of 16-million mutants and the total destruction of Genosha. How can mutants -- what's left of them -- look up to him now? In addition, the word is spreading in the mutant community that Wanda, Magneto's daughter, is the one who decimated the mutant population that survived Genosha! If I were a mutant in the Marvel Universe, the last thing I'd want is anything more of Magneto or his family! With protectors and leaders like that, they don't need enemies.

And Magneto should be portrayed as deep enough, basically good enough, intelligent enough, to begin to understand this. I'd like him to declare "Magneto dead." Really. I'd like him to bury "Magneto" and give up all his hideaways and secret places and belongings, and then leave his material wealth (which would be considerable after all these years) to Wanda and Pietro. Billions, including companies and holdings -- leave Wanda the businesses, believe it or not. She'd be the best able to handle them, and she'd make even more billions. She'd be wealthier than Tony Stark -- let her come to New York and buy her own Avenger's Tower! Hah, take that Stark!
Pietro would get the art and the money -- it would appeal to his arrogance.

Anyway, it's just a kind of logical move for Marvel to make. Especially if Magneto is declared dead, and he's already set up some kind of contigency with lawyers (trusted sons and grandsons of fellow Holocaust survivors who would be completely loyal to him, no matter what he'd done) to disperse his estate once he was gone, to Wanda and Pietro.

Poor Lorna -- since I don't believe she's really Magneto's daughter, and he was just using her -- she shouldn't get a cent. But in any case, she still won't get a cent, because she's not Magda's child, and because Magneto didn't recognize her until it was too late. Maybe Wanda and Pietro would share.

Seriously, I want to see Wanda as the exquisite, classy, elegant European beauty that she is.

I want to see Pietro come to terms with the touch of psychosis he's got going on now, with a little help from friends like Rahne and Maddrox and (well maybe not) Guido -- because friendship is something that has always eluded him before.

I want to see Magneto be forced to reexamine everything about this "Magneto" role he's been living for the last 12 years Marvel time, without, and I repeat WITHOUT becoming a Xavierite. I want to see him gather people around him who genuinely respect him, like the kids from EXCALIBUR vol.3. I want to see him make choices about what kind of man he should be, that don't involve Charles Xavier telling him what kind of man he should be.

I of course ask for way too much. >>sigh<<

But I say again, what I've said so many times before, truly great comic book writing, truly great characterization, grows from within the characters themselves, from their histories and established personalities. Great writers don't need to trample on or destroy, or do bigotted or stupid things to a character's history, to do something entirely new with a character. And I'm not really criticizing Marvel right now -- I'm just afraid that the editors and writers will fail to maintain the current high level of creativity and excitement and fall back on the usual narrow-minded and blinkered BS.

Amen to all that.

Mandatory castration.

Great idea. Next, we sterilize Jean Grey if she comes back (the children of Scott and Emma in The End seemed fine, so it must be her side:D).

[mattbib]

X-Men fans today have grown up with Magneto as Wanda's father not Django Maximoff, thus Wanda Maximoff has been slowly turned into Wanda Lehnsherr by the writers and in the mind of the audience.
Which is clearly wrong since there could be no "Wanda Lensherr" since "Lensherr" is an assumed name; not Magneto's real name.

[jmc247]

If you notice in the comics of the past couple years, both X-Men the animated series, and the X-Men movies they have all decided that Lensherr is now his birth name.

It just sort of stuck, so the writers retconned it in there. Hell he even refers to his family as the line of Lensheer in one of Claremont's recient comics. And, he says in New Avengers 20 that Erik Magnus Lensheer is his birth name.

[mattbib]

If you notice in the comics of the past couple years, both X-Men the animated series, and the X-Men movies they have all decided that Lensherr is now his birth name.I wouldn't lend any creedence to the animated series or the movies...
It just sort of stuck, so the writers retconned it in there. Hell he even refers to his family as the line of Lensheer in one of Claremont's recient comics. And, he says in New Avengers 20 that Erik Magnus Lensheer is his birth name.
...but an on-panel retcon? I guess if that happened, despite his past statements otherwise, it's now true.

[jmc247]

...but an on-panel retcon? I guess if that happened, despite his past statements otherwise, it's now true.

Some writers have either forgotten the origional story or decided on it as retroactive continutity. Either way until the writers say something different it has become "the name humans gave me" as he says in New Avengers 20.

[mattbib]

Some writers have either forgotten the origional story or decided on it as retroactive continutity. Either way until the writers say something different it has become "the name humans gave me" as he says in New Avengers 20.So wait, did he just make the "humans gave me" comment or does he actually say "Lensherr is my birth name"?

Because if he didn't, there's no reason to assume he wasn't referring to the human forger who gave him the Lensherr identity. In which case there hasn't been another retcon and Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna would not be Lensherrs.

[jmc247]

So wait, did he just make the "humans gave me" comment or does he actually say "Lensherr is my birth name"?

Because if he didn't, there's no reason to assume he wasn't referring to the human forger who gave him the Lensherr identity. In which case there hasn't been another retcon and Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna would not be Lensherrs.

They definatly made it seem as though he was talking about his birth name in the comic and they went even further when it comes to using that as his birth name that in X-Men the End and Excalibur.

The problem Marvel is stuck with is that the mass viewing audience knows his name to be Erik Magnus Lensherr. Professor X has been calling him Erik for decades and the movies and the animated series that the casual fans use to learn about the X-Men all have his real name as Erik Magnus Lensherr. If the Marvel writers put out a new name as his origional name it will cause mass confusion with the audience and it would be simply not worth it.

So what I think they have decided to do instead is slowly retcon in Erik Magnus Lensheer as his birth name. Given their options, I don't think it is a bad move. It doesn't mean we have to refer to Lorna as Lorna Lensheer. But, it does mean there won't be massive confusion when it comes to Magneto's name. Magneto is himself one of the most important characters to Marvel as a franchise and he has his own movie coming out. Giving Magneto an extra 'origional' human name would cause far more grief then it is worth for Marvel and marketers.

[Rivka]

So wait, did he just make the "humans gave me" comment or does he actually say "Lensherr is my birth name"?

Because if he didn't, there's no reason to assume he wasn't referring to the human forger who gave him the Lensherr identity. In which case there hasn't been another retcon and Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna would not be Lensherrs.

Exactly.

We've already had this discussion several times in the X-Men folder, I believe.

"Erik Lehnsherr" is an assumed name. It is the name the forger Georg Odekirk gave Magneto some 40+ years ago. Even "Magnus" may not be part of his real name.

But "Erik Lehnsherr" is also Magnet's adopted name in the Marvel Universe. It's the name he's used, legally, for the last 40+ years, and he at least used the name "Erik Magnus" when he immigrated to Israel probably sometime in the 1970s. It is not his birth name! He has carefully kept his birth name, the identity of his birth family, a secret, for some very good reasons.

In any case, in NEW AVENGERS #20, Magnus is writing a manifesto, a document that he intends to be read by the public. He is making a public declaration. It is not a confession, it is not a tell-all relieve-my-conscience type of work. He's trying to come to terms with his new status as Homo sapiens sapiens, and that little opening remark, using the terminology of some of the more radical mutants (that he didn't use before, either) about "the name the Homo sapiens gave" me is just mutant-political spin, because at this point, he's no longer a mutant.

In point of fact, "Erik Lehnsherr" is the name that Homo sapiens gave him, since Georg Odekirk gave him the name. Moreover, the name "Magneto" is his old codename from the time he was working for Mossad and as a double-agent for some unnamed Western intelligence agency (CIA, MI6, MI5), so it isn't really his "mutant" name either. Magneto is writing a document for the world to read, and he's not about to reveal his family's real name and identity at this point in time. He's using the forged name, but it is his pseudonym, his adopted name. For all intents and purposes, it's his legal name in the Marvel Universe.

As for his children, if he'd found them before he went to Georg Odekirk, they'd have his birth name as their surname. Magda is not "Magda Lehnsherr" -- that much is certain. But Wanda and Pietro, if he'd found them after he assumed the name "Lehnsherr" I guess they'd be "Lehnsherrs" in the same way actor Michael Douglas is the legal name of the son of Kirk Douglas, the actor, whose birth name is the Russian Jewish Issur Danielovitch. Magneto didn't go through legal channels to "change" his name; i.e., his papers are forged; but the name "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" is known as his legal name in the Marvel Universe.

But I fail to undertand why some of you-all continue to insist that somehow the powerful and definitive statements Magneto made, on panel, concerning the falseness of the name, can be ignored. They can't. They aren't being ignored. As far as continuity is concerned, we the readers know what only a few in the Marvel Universe know (Sabra, Xavier, Gabrielle Haller, probably the leadership of Mossad) that "Erik Lehnsherr" is a false name. As far as the Marvel Universe is concerned, "Lehnsherr" is Magneto's name. As far as Magneto is concerned, when he's referring to himself, he uses his false name. What the heck else is he supposed to do, if he wants to continue to keep his birth name a secret? Does he go around saying: "My name is 'it's-a-secret-because-I-don't-want-to-expose-my-family-heritage-to-contempt-harm-and-abuse' and it was given to me by Homo sapiens" ? Does he reveal his birth name now, after so carefully keeping it a secret all these years?

Wanda has a choice. She's made that choice in the past. She can call herself "Wanda Lehnhserr" if she likes -- it's her father's adopted name, she can make a statement of solidarity if she wanted to. But she chose several years ago to reject that name, and that identity, and calls herself Wanda Maximoff, because the man who raised her, who was kind and supportive of her, who was her father for all intents and purposes, was Django Maximoff.

[jmc247]

Rivka you don't seem to care at all about the commerial problems with having Magneto be given another name. Nor would I expect you to.

But, the reality is Marvel can't give Magneto a new name they are stuck with Erik Magnus Lensheer as his human name. And, when the Magneto movie comes out Erik Magnus Lensheer will be his human name in the movie and the merchandize and books that the movie sells will all have that as his real name I tell you that with absolute certainty.

From a marketing prospective Magento is a popular character and his human name has been ground into the mind of fans as Erik Magnus Lensheer. They are not going to ever change that.

And, I will tell you for a fact that if the comics ever deal with Magneto's parents the writers will have their names be Lensheer.

[Rivka]

They definatly made it seem as though he was talking about his birth name in the comic and they went even further when it comes to using that as his birth name that in X-Men the End and Excalibur.

No, it was not used as his birth name. It was used as his adopted name. That's all.

In fact, the wording in NEW AVENGERS #20 is careful to say, "The name Homo sapiens gave me ..." i.e., the name the forger gave him. Magneto knows what he's writing there.

The problem Marvel is stuck with is that the mass viewing audience knows his name to be Erik Magnus Lensherr. Professor X has been calling him Erik for decades and the movies and the animated series that the casual fans use to learn about the X-Men all have his real name as Erik Magnus Lensherr. If the Marvel writers put out a new name as his origional name it will cause mass confusion with the audience and it would be simply not worth it.

It's not a problem. Xavier has been calling him "Erik" and "Magnus" for years -- and Magnus is most likely not part of his real name, either. Just like you've been saying "Stan Lee" created Spider Man and the X-Men for years, but that doesn't make Stan Lee Mr. Lieber's birth name.

Marvel isn't putting out a new birthname any time soon, because it's unknown at this time. And I don't think it would confuse readers at all; it's just that, to do that, Marvel would have to be respectful and accurate about Magneto's Jewish Holocaust history, actually write about what it was like for a Jewish boy growing up in Nazi-era Europe, but that would mean settling on what country he comes from (Germany or Poland seem the best bets, but I've read good cases made for him coming from Lithuania or Latvia, too), and settling on a family name that made sense, and was historically accurate. My greatest wish is for Marvel to do this, as soon as possible, but I don't think it will happen any time soon.


So what I think they have decided to do instead is slowly retcon in Erik Magnus Lensheer as his birth name.

Nope, not at all. I think they use the name as Magneto's assumed Marvel Universe name. Magneto's birth name remains unknown.


Given their options, I don't think it is a bad move.

"Erik Lehnsherr" is a false name. Marvel's options include doing what they're doing; having people in the Marvel Universe use it, and Magneto himself use it, because (a) most in the Marvel Universe think it's his real name, (b) those who know it's not his real name, still don't know what his real name is, and (c) Magneto himself doesn't want to reveal his real name, for a variety of complex reasons, and has taken "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" as his name; like Stan Lee, or Jack Kirby, or any number of other famous people or not-so famous people who have taken new names that have become their legal names, sometimes just by usage rather than a legal name change.


It doesn't mean we have to refer to Lorna as Lorna Lensherr

Heh, it doesn't mean Lorna has to call herself "Lorna Lehnsherr" because I don't think she's really Magneto's daughter! :)

But, it does mean there won't be massive confusion when it comes to Magneto's name. Magneto is himself one of the most important characters to Marvel as a franchise and he has his own movie coming out. Giving Magneto an extra 'origional' human name would cause far more grief then it is worth for Marvel and marketers.

There is no massive confusion. "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" is a forged, false name, that Magneto took as his legal name some 40+ years ago, Marvel Time. He has used that name almost half of his adult life. He has carefully and passionately kept his birth name and family identity a secret, since he wiped out a large part of Vinnitsa and Magda ran away form him, around 1957. There is no need to reveal his birth name at this point in time.

[mattbib]

They definatly made it seem as though he was talking about his birth name in the comic and they went even further when it comes to using that as his birth name that in X-Men the End and Excalibur.

The problem Marvel is stuck with is that the mass viewing audience knows his name to be Erik Magnus Lensherr. Professor X has been calling him Erik for decades and the movies and the animated series that the casual fans use to learn about the X-Men all have his real name as Erik Magnus Lensherr. If the Marvel writers put out a new name as his origional name it will cause mass confusion with the audience and it would be simply not worth it.

So what I think they have decided to do instead is slowly retcon in Erik Magnus Lensheer as his birth name. Given their options, I don't think it is a bad move. It doesn't mean we have to refer to Lorna as Lorna Lensheer. But, it does mean there won't be massive confusion when it comes to Magneto's name. Magneto is himself one of the most important characters to Marvel as a franchise and he has his own movie coming out. Giving Magneto an extra 'origional' human name would cause far more grief then it is worth for Marvel and marketers.I think that's up to interpretation. In X-Men: The End and Excalibur I'd say he's again "assumed" the Lensherr name, rather than using it as his "birth" name. As you say, that's the identity he's created for himself. And really, he hasn't gone by Erik that long. Xavier was still calling him only Magnus up until the mid-to-late '80s. Lensherr didn't really come around unil, what?, the '90s? And it really hasn't been retconned away as there's been nothing conclusively contradicting the identity as forged, regardless of how often Magneto again uses the identity or others refer to him as such. Nor do I think we need to find out Magneto's true birth name; it's no longer important and, I agree with you, it would just add confusion. Better to let his true birth name just be unknown.

[jmc247]

Explain to me this line in Excalibur #9 why don't you. "Erik Magnus Lensherr grew to manhood in the closest place Mankind has ever come to achieving true hell on Earth".

You guys don't seem to get the problem Marvel has.

Marvel screwed up with their origional story and realized they can't give him today a different name for marketing reasons.

It is that simple.

Thus flashbacks of Magneto in Nazi death camps like we saw in Excalibur #9 use the name Erik Magnus Lensheer. If we ever see Magneto's family the writers will be stuck with Lensheer as there last name, simply because Marvel does not want the confusion that having two human names for Magneto would bring.

[Rivka]

Rivka you don't seem to care at all about the commerial problems with having Magneto be given another name. Nor would I expect you to.

But, the reality is Marvel can't give Magneto a new name they are stuck with Erik Magnus Lensheer as his human name. And, when the Magneto movie comes out Erik Magnus Lensheer will be his human name in the movie and the merchandize and books that the movie sells will all have that as his real name I tell you that with absolute certainty.

From a marketing prospective Magento is a popular character and his human name has been ground into the mind of fans as Erik Magnus Lensheer. They are not going to ever change that.

And, I will tell you for a fact that if the comics ever deal with Magneto's parents the writers will have their names be Lensheer.


jmc, "Erik Lehnsherr" is a false name. That's the fact. Marvel has no problem, no commercial problem, no other kind of problem, using the name. As I and others have explained: to the Marvel Universe, to Magneto himself, it's his adopted name. It is not his birth name, but so what? He has been using it as his legal name for many, many years.

If Marvel were ever (miracle of miracles) show Magneto's Jewish childhood and Jewish imprisonment at Auschwitz, not only would I probably die from happiness, but I wouldn't care how they explained that the name "Erik Lehnsherr" is in any way genuine. But they would have to explain it. As of now, Magneto said on panel, to a man he was about to kill -- with us readers as the only witnesses -- that he denied "everything" about his family, he "denied who he was" to take the false name, and false identity. And this was affirmed by the most sophisticated technology that Mossad and other intelligence agencies have. Magneto did not deny who he was, everything his family died for, to hide from the KGB, the police, and search for Magda, by taking the exact same name he used before Anya was killed.

[Rivka]

Explain to me this line in Excalibur #9 why don't you. "Erik Magnus Lensherr grew to manhood in the closest place Mankind has ever come to achieving true hell on Earth".

You guys don't seem to get the problem Marvel has.

Marvel screwed up with their origional story and realized they can't give him today a different name for marketing reasons.

It is that simple.

Thus flashbacks of Magneto in Nazi death camps like we saw in Excalibur #9 use the name Erik Magnus Lensheer.

That's the narration. In the narration of several comics, Magneto is referred to as "Erik Lehnsherr." It should be in quotes in these instances, but if it isn't, it's still not his birth name.

And there is no problem here, except you think there's a problem. They didn't "screw up" any original story. They were fixing the screw-up that had already happened. Why the name "Erik Lehnhserr" had to be included in the false story that Gabrielle Haller told about Magneto, is because editor in chief at the time Bob Harras wanted it that way.

As to Marvel at the present time, as I've said how many times now, there is no "new name" and there is no "confusion" because there is only one name that Magneto answers to, and is known by. "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" is his assumed name, his adopted name. It's his name, for all intents and purposes. We the readers know it's not his real name, but so what? It's the name that he uses.

[jmc247]

jmc, "Erik Lehnsherr" is a false name. That's the fact. Marvel has no problem, no commercial problem, no other kind of problem, using the name. As I and others have explained: to the Marvel Universe, to Magneto himself, it's his adopted name. It is not his birth name, but so what? He has been using it as his legal name for many, many years.

"Erik Magnus Lensherr grew to manhood in the closest place Mankind has ever come to achieving true hell on Earth".

As I said before I am not an idiot I know what the origional story Marvel wrote was.

That said Marvel is stuck with Lensheer and the writers will continue to use that as his family name.

We can argue this all day, but you can't win. Because, Marvel will simply not give Magneto a new name.

Why do you think Ulimate Magneto was known as Erik Magnus Lensheer? Why do you think all the flashbacks of Magneto when he was in the death camps refer to him as Erik Magnus Lensheer.

Because, Marvel can't give him a new name.

Would you rather Marvel never explore Magneto's past with his family or would you rather they do it and simply retcon his famy as the Lensheers? That is what we are left with because Marvel isn't going to have his family not be the Lensheers for the many reasons I described.

[Rivka]

"Erik Magnus Lensherr grew to manhood in the closest place Mankind has ever come to achieving true hell on Earth".

As I said before I am not an idiot I know what the origional story Marvel wrote was.

That said Marvel is stuck with Lensheer and the writers will continue to use that as his family name.

We can argue this all day, but you can't win. Because, Marvel will simply not give Magneto a new name.

Why do you think Ulimate Magneto was known as Erik Magnus Lensheer? Why do you think all the flashbacks of Magneto when he was in the death camps refer to him as Erik Magnus Lensheer.

Because, Marvel can't give him a new name.

It's not a matter of "winning" or "losing" an argument, the facts are the facts. And, I've not said Marvel has to give Magneto a new name! I keep saying to you, "Erik Magnus Lehnhserr" is Magneto's adopted name in the Marvel Universe. What is so confusing about that? I don't think you're an "idiot" -- on the contrary, you're obviously an intelligent and detail-oriented reader.

The fact is, "Erik Lehnsherr" is not Magneto's birth name. That's continuity. It is his name in the Marvel Universe, because he took it as his name. It's like adopting children -- they aren't you're birth children, but they still are your children in every other way.

As for the "flashbacks" in the vol. 3 EXCALIBUR series, the name was used in the narration in one instance. One other time, in EXCALBIUR #14, Xavier is using the name, while talking to Dr. Strange. But like I said, Marvel doesn't have to give Magneto a "new" name. We know that "Erik Lehnhserr" is not his birth name, and we know that Magneto himself has denied whatever his birthname was. He has taken this name "Lehnsherr" as his new name. It's the only name he has. There isn't any other name.

What you're describing are your speculations, your beliefs, your interpretations, of the use of the name "Erik Lehnsherr" in the comics. I'm just telling you the facts. It is not his birth name, "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" is Magneto's adopted name. It is still, for all intents and purposes, his name in the Marvel Universe.

It is your opinion that Marvel doesn't respect the continuity, and because of an instance or two where the name should have been used in quotes, and wasn't, you have decided that "Erik Lehnsherr" is Magneto's birth name. I don't see the logic in that. Marvel gets continuity wrong in places, all the time. It doesn't invalidate the continuity. In this case, it's even easier to explain the use of the name "Erik Lehnsherr" for Magneto, than it is to explain other continuity glitches (like changing Kitty's age from 18 to 16, or, showing Emma using her telepathy once or twice in diamond form, when she shouldn't be able to do that).

As for the ULTIMATE UNIVERSE, it was supposed to resemble the movie-verse, is my understanding. It's a different continuity. They can call Magneto any name they want to, in the Ultimate Universe, although I think he is the descendant of Holocaust survivors in the Ultimate Universe, not actually one himself, because of time and age issues.

Marvel of course wants to use the name because of the popularization of it in the X-Men movies, and when they can, they'll use it as Magneto's name. But in 616-canon, in regular continuity, it is not Magneto's birth name. But that doesn't in any way mean, it still isn't the name he uses, and the name he's known by. There is no confusion. There is no problem.

I keep telling you, that "Erik Lehnhserr" is Magneto's adopted name, and the name he uses in the Marvel Universe, and you keep insisting that this means he has two names, and it's too confusing. How can you say that, when it's the only name Magneto has?

I keep saying, "Erik Lehnsherr" is Magneto's name, for all intents and purposes, because he turned his back on his birth name, and HE HIMSELF has adopted the "Lehnherr" name as his own, some 40+ years ago, and you keep saying this means the name has to be his birth name. Why?

[mattbib]

That said Marvel is stuck with Lensheer and the writers will continue to use that as his family name.

We can argue this all day, but you can't win. Because, Marvel will simply not give Magneto a new name.This isn't a contest; nobody's going to win. However, in last year's OHotMU entry, "Erik Magnus Lensherr" is listed as a 'known alias'. His real name is listed as "Unknown".

So while he will continue to be referred to as Erik Magnus Lensherr (on which nobody's disagreed with you) it's, until proven otherwise, still an alias and not his true name.

As for what Marvel will or will not do, including possibly ultimately retconning the forgery story and making it his true name, I wouldn't presume to guess with any amount of certaintly.

[Rivka]

Would you rather Marvel never explore Magneto's past with his family or would you rather they do it and simply retcon his famy as the Lensheers? That is what we are left with because Marvel isn't going to have his family not be the Lensheers for the many reasons I described.

That may be so, but they would have to explain it, is all. As long as they get his Jewish identity right, and accurately and respectfully portray his Holocaust history, I don't really care WHAT his name is. But it would have to be explained why Magneto would take his real name as a false name, in order to hide from the police. You can explain him saying "I denied who I was" and "I denied everything my family died for" in relation to his pretending to be a Sinte gypsy, when he was really Jewish, in order to hide from the police and search for Magda. You can separate his Jewish identity from the name issue that way.

But it still doesn't make sense that he took his real name as his false name in order to hide from the police and KGB, because he was an internationally wanted criminal by this time, and he had forged papers, that proclaimed his new identity. It would have to be explained. Not swept under the rug.

From mattbib:

As for what Marvel will or will not do, including possibly ultimately retconning the forgery story and making it his true name, I wouldn't presume to guess with any amount of certaintly

The forgery story is a noble effort, it attempted to fix what was in essence a total mess that twisted and falsified Holocaust and Auschwitz history, and tried to remove Magneto's Jewish identity. Since the movie also (courageously) established Magneto's Jewish identity, it seems that the forgery story will stand -- vis-a-vis Magneto pretending to be a gypsy, when he was in fact born Jewish. As for the name "Erik Lehnsher" however, since it didn't have to be included in the forgery story -- Bob Harras just wanted it that way for some reason -- I think there must be a way to restore it as Magneto's real name. There must be a way to explain the situation, while at the same time reaffirming that Magneto did indeed "deny" who he was, "everything his family died for" by taking a false ethnicity, not necessarily a false name.

One explanation could be, that Magneto used a false name with Magda! That he used a false name when he escaped Auschwitz, and that Magda and Anya had a different surname than "Lehnsherr." That he was known to the authorities in Vinnitsa, to the authorities in the Ukraine, and in the Carpathian Mountain village where he and Magda were married, by a different name altogether. That when he took the name "Erik Lehnsherr" he told the forger it was a fabrication, but it really was his birth name -- and since all his family was wiped out by the Holocaust, who would be around to say different? The only problem with this is, Magneto clearly states in XM #72, that Georg Odekirk came up with the name: "You gave birth to Erik Lehnhserr, Odekirk...."

[Erik Lehnsherr]

The only name we are sure of that belongs to Magneto right now is Magnus. The rest was expunged in X-Men #72 as an alias apparently but Bendis and others disregard that retcon.

[brundlefly]

Regarding the three established members of the "Lehnsherr" family, plus Polaris (whose status seems to depend on what day of the week it is):

Quicksilver: He's in good hands with PAD in X-FACTOR at the moment and has a nice post-DECIMATION role in the X-universe. There's no reason to disrupt that by dragging him into an ill-conceived crossover or making more changes to him. PAD has always been able to write him well and his new powers, connection to the Terrigen Mists (and by extension the Inhumans), and strained relationship with X-Factor give him a lot of great storyline possiblities.

Magneto: Let him take a very well-deserved break from bad writing (EVE OF DESTRUCTION, PLANET X) and bloated crossovers (HOUSE OF M) to wash away all the poor characterization and overuse. Uncanny #500 would be fine with me, but I know it will probably end up being sooner than that (like CIVIL WAR, no doubt). I'd like to see him return in a subtler manner too, picking up where EXCALIBUR left off and trying to turn Genosha back into the mutant utopia that was his dream before things got derailed by Lobdell and Morrison. None of the "anti-human terrorist" business, as he had outgrown that label post-MAGNETO WAR and had become a world leader in his own right. So perhaps some kind of plan to reverse the effects of M-Day and restore Genosha to its former glory.

Wanda: Like Mags, I don't think we should see her for a while (though I think I remember reading that she's going to appear in NEW AVENGERS). Of the four, she's the most badly damaged property and, barring a very convincing character overhaul, is now permanently typecast as a crazy reality-destroyer who will only pop up to be used as a plot device or villain now and again. I'd like to see a good writer get hold of her and fix some of that damage without resorting to a Parallax-like scapegoat, but that'll be some awfully hard work.

Polaris: Like Pietro, she's in a good place right now (fulltime cast member of an X-title under a good writer in Brubaker). No need to weaken her character by dredging up all that "Magneto's other daughter" claptrap for the umpteenth time. Let's see what Brubaker has planned for her post-Fall of Shiar Empire.