#ComicBytes: Professor X and Magneto, the ultimate frenemies
There is no relationship in Marvel as complicated as the one between X-Men leader Professor X and Magneto, his mortal enemy. In all the Fox-produced X-Men films, this relationship has been brought forward many times to form the crux of its stories. But still, there is a lot left to cover. Let us take a look at the timeline of their time together.
Charles Xavier (Professor X) first meets Erik Lehnsherr at a hospital in Israel. He finds out that Erik is a mutant when Baron von Strucker and his troops attack the hospital and Erik uses his metal-controlling powers to pull one of their escape vehicles apart. Together, they fight the Nazis, but their different philosophies regarding mutant lives on earth, are at odds.
Xavier becomes a nurturer, and builds a "school for gifted youngsters," which was in truth a training ground for mutants, where he becomes Professor X. Erik goes a different path and assumes the identity of Magneto and leads the Brotherhood of Mutants, waging war against humanity. In order to protect humanity, Xavier's X-Men often come in between, making the old friends mortal enemies.
There are times when Xavier and Erik make peace with one another when they face a common enemy, just like what we saw in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). In comics, Xavier and the X-Men defend Magneto against the other non-mutant superheroes in Secret Wars timeline. Xavier also picks Magneto to replace him as his school's headmaster, but he goes the other way.
In the 2019-20 Dawn of X storyline, Xavier and Erik forge their most powerful alliance. Together, they establish a new nation on the sentient mutant island of Krakoa. All mutants are welcome on Krakoa, even those who have been the X-Men's most ruthless enemies. The Hellfire Club, former members of the Brotherhood, and even Apocalypse assume leadership roles on the island's Quiet Council.
