What Happened to Magneto in Marvel ‘Ruins’ Storyline?

Besides the mainstream Marvel continuity, there are numerous other alternative realities that offer a new look and insight into our favorite heroes and what would happen if some of their aspects would fundamentally change. Some alternative realities are comedy-oriented, and some are dark. In today’s post, we’re going to discuss Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ storyline that just might be one of the darkest realities ever created. Instead of superpowers, heroes and villains alike are stuck with crippling disabilities that threaten their safety and the safety of others. Many characters appeared in ‘Ruins,’ and met unfortunate ends, and today, we’re going to analyze what happened to Magneto and how his own power turned against him. 

In Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ Magneto was killed when he lost control over his own powers, which caused all metal objects in a certain radius to stick to him, including the plane which crushed him to death. Magneto lost control of his power when a Secret Service agent bumped into him and caused the device that put his powers under control to stop working. 

We know that Magnet generally doesn’t have problems controlling his own powers and abilities, which makes the ‘Ruins’ storyline all the more bizarre. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

In ‘Ruins’ Mutants are extremely dangerous, and this is why they are kept in specialized prisons

Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ is a two-issue storyline set on Earth-9591, a darker version of reality where superheroes are classified as paranormal phenomena and extremely dangerous. In this reality, something at one point went wrong, and instead of superhuman powers, the world is now inhabited by “ruined” men & women, whose superpowers are often accompanied by debilitating and often deadly side effects. 

The story is told from the perspective of Philip Sheldon, a retired Daily Bugle reporter who travels the country in search of such paranormal phenomena. He documents the instances of “superpowers gone wrong” in efforts to write a book ‘The Marvels.’ ‘Ruins’ storyline was written by Warren Ellis and served as a parody of the ‘The Marvels’ storyline. 

We know that mutants are among the most numerous & most powerful superpowered individuals in the Marvel Universe. Sadly in ‘Ruins’, they are also so dangerous that the whole secure unit was built for them in an effort to “control” their powers. 

Mutants are held at a specialized prison, often in cruel and inhumane conditions, President X sometimes visits them to stare at them, and they are guarded by prison warden Wilson Fisk. 

One of the most notable prisoners is Quicksilver, whose arms & legs have been amputated “for his own good” to keep him from getting hurt by his own powers.

Magneto got into an accident when he lost control over his powers

Philip Sheldon encountered Magneto when he boarded the plane to visit the prison where mutants are kept. At first, he mistook him for an old hippie. Philip Sheldon was seated next to Mystique, who started shapeshifting rapidly and made a scene during the flight, which forced the plane to make an emergency landing.

The Secret Service showed up and explained that Mystique’s powers caused her to uncontrollably shapeshift, and being so many people in such a short period of time caused her to go insane. Her condition could have been prevented, but sadly she never remembers to take her pills on time. 

The Secret Service was dealing with the incident when one of the agents bumped into Magneto. He had a strange device strapped to his chest, and everyone assumed it was a bomb. This device was a homemade degaussing device that was supposed to control and suppress magnetic fields, including Magneto’s powers. 

The secret Agent that pushed Magneto away caused the device to stop working, and every metal object in the vicinity started crashing into Magneto, burying him under debris. 

The Agent that pushed Magneto started screaming as the iron in his blood was sucked through his flesh. He would later die out of a massive hemorrhage. 

Philip Sheldon wasn’t spared of the magnetic field as well. The force was so strong a metal filling from his tooth was ripped from his jaw and broke two healthy teeth as it was pulled from his mouth. 

Eventually, the magnetic field generated by Magneto was so strong the plane started moving as well. The steel was bending and howling as it moved toward Magneto until he was eventually crushed by the plane and killed on impact. 

The secret service eventually covered up the incident and confiscated Philip’s images of everything that took place that day. Philip survived the ordeal and went o visit the special prison in Texas guarded by Wilson Fisk. 

What happened on Earth-9591?

It is heavily implied that the same incident that gave Fantastic Four their powers on Earth-616 resulted in ‘Ruins’ continuity getting warped and twisted. In ‘Ruins’ Ben Grimm refused to take Reed Richards to space since he needed some extra time to adjust the lateral engines on the rocket. Reed Richards refused to wait, disregarding all safety protocols put into place. He instead stole the rocket and got Dr. Doom to pilot it. 

They were eventually bombarded by cosmic radiation, and the rocket crashed to Earth. Instead of becoming Marvel’s first family, all members of the Fantastic Four, save for Grimm, were either horribly disfigured or dead. 

Reed Richard’s body was found, stretched beyond belief. Sue Storm was turned completely invisible. Even her eyes reflecting the light rendered her blind. Johnny Storm was burned on a molecular level, his body completely incinerated. 

Dr. Doom went up into space as an animal and returned as a mineral, his internal organs allegeldy being on the outside. 

And this is the story of what happened to Magneto, and it’s not pretty. 

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