In one of the countless realities within Marvel’s vast Multiverse, Rogue and Magneto of the X-Men had a child together. Born to two powerful mutants, the baby was certain to develop immense abilities, but his parents’ powers combined in such a way that his unique X-Gene was more of a curse than a gift.
Rogue is no stranger to powers with drawbacks. Her main ability allows her to absorb the powers of others through skin-to-skin contact, but this comes with a major side effect. Throughout much of her career in the X-Men, Rogue struggled to control her abilities, and her touch would drain a person’s energy, causing them to instantly fall unconscious. While she has worked to avoid these potentially fatal pitfalls to her powers, they have caused her some immense trauma and played a giant role in shaping her character. Interestingly, Magneto is immune to Rogue’s draining touch, which has led to the two forming a fairly complicated relationship. While the mainstream versions of the characters aren’t together, however, their counterparts in the alternate universe of Earth-27 took their bond to the next level.
Judd Winick, Mike McKone, Mark McKenna, Jung Choi, and Paul Tutrone’s Exiles #1 introduces readers to a new group of X-Men from various realities who are all brought together to fix damage done to the Multiverse. Among these recruits is Magneto and Rogue’s son, Magnus, who possesses many of the same magnetic abilities as his father. Unfortunately, he also manifests an ability similar to Rogue’s, but instead of draining his victims of their energy, he turns them into solid steel. To protect others from this deadly fate, he wears a special suit that prevents him from coming into skin-to-skin contact with those around him.
Sadly, the realities the Exiles came from were destabilized and each member’s life was altered in a tragic way. For Magnus, this resulted in him accidentally turning his mother to steel. The devastation of Rogue’s death took hold of Magneto, who in turn decided to continue his crusade against humanity. Luckily, the Exiles were given the chance to reverse these fates by going on missions to different Earths throughout the Multiverse. Their first destination was a world in which superheroes had been outlawed. While trying to rescue the various heroes who had been imprisoned, though, they let loose an evil Charles Xavier who wished to extinguish mankind. Eventually, the team was able to save the day, but not without Magnus sacrificing his life to save his teammates and the alternate Earth’s heroes from an atomic bomb.
Although his time on the Exiles was short, Magnus showed off an impressive, albeit terrifying, set of powers. Being cursed with his own version of the Midas touch, he took necessary precautions, but didn’t seem to shy away from using many of the other powerful abilities he inherited from his father. Clearly, Magnus cared about the lives of others, with his special suit and his sacrifice acting as outward symbols of his nature as a hero. Still, it’s scary to think of what he could do with those powers if he fell into villainy like his father. Either way, fans aren’t likely to see Magnus return anytime soon, as Rogue has been romantically entwined with Gambit as of late. Still, seeing what can happen when powerhouses like Rogue and Magneto decide to have kids is sure to leave fans interested in what lies ahead for the X-Men.