Magneto, a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, has been included in almost every media adaptation of the X-Men franchise, including films, television series and video games.
Television
Magneto appeared in several Marvel animated series from 1967 to 1991.
Spider-Man (1967 TV series) In the 1967 Spider-Man animated series, Spider-Man battled a scientist named Dr. Matto Magneto wielding a magnetic gun in "The Revenge of Dr. Magneto". The character was (very) loosely based on the Magneto character from the comics, and more closely resembled Albert Einstein instead of Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. This character is also not a mutant nor had any super powers. His name is pronounced "Mag-netto" instead of "Mag-neet-o" because he is German.
Fantastic Four (1978 TV series) In the 1978 Fantastic Four animated series, Magneto (voiced by John Stephenson) briefly took control of the team in "The Menace Of Magneto". Here, he is not depicted as a mutant. Instead he is simply an extremely powerful supervillain with typical aspirations such as robbing a bank. Instead of flying, he moves around in a bizarre, car-like device which he moves using his magnetic powers. He was defeated when Reed Richards tricked him with a wooden gun.
1980s
Spider-Man (1981 TV series) The solo Spider-Man animated series from 1981 featured Magneto in the episode "When Magneto Speaks... People Listen". In this version he used the alias Mr. M, took over and hid several of the world's communication satellites and demanded $100 million in gold to return power to the world. He was defeated by Spider-Man who was able to turn his magnet power back at him using a microwave relay but Magneto managed to escape.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Magneto returned in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, attempting to free his fellow mutants from prison in "The Prison Plot". He was voiced by Michael Rye. The character also made a cameo appearance in flashback in "A Firestar Is Born", as Firestar recounts her past to the X-Men. In spite of his Spider-Man television appearances, he has appeared in only two issues of a Spider-Man title.
Pryde of the X-Men
Magneto was the main villain in the animated X-Men pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men - his first actual animated appearance battling the X-Men. He was voiced by Earl Boen.
X-Men (TV series)
Magneto's voice was provided by David Hemblen in X-Men, where he played a prominent role. Curiously, though he began on the show as a villain, his character spent more time as an ally to the X-Men, fighting alongside them against common enemies such as the Sentinels and Mr. Sinister as opposed to the cold-hearted villain he was previously portrayed as in earlier shows like Pryde of the X-Men.
In the series, he briefly appears in the first episode "Night of the Sentinels: Part I" on a television screen Jubilee accidentally turns on with her powers but Magneto makes his true first appearance in the third episode "Enter Magneto", where he attempts to incite a war between humans and mutants by attacking a military base and launching its nuclear armaments, though they are prevented from reaching their targets by the X-Men. It is revealed that his real name is Magnus, and he is an old friend of Xavier's. However, a violent encounter with an army convinces Magnus that humans and mutants can't coexist, and the two parted ways.
He reappears in the next episode "Deadly Reunions", when he attacks a chemical plant in an effort to draw Xavier out to face him. After defeating Cyclops, Rogue and Storm, Xavier meets his challenge and they do battle. Though Magneto gains the upper hand, Xavier tortures him with repressed memories of his childhood during The Holocaust, causing Magneto to flee in agony. In the first-season finale, he kidnaps Senator Kelly in order to once again attempt to begin a war, but is thwarted by a group of Sentinels. After Mastermold and the other Sentinels rebel against their creators and become a threat to the entire world, Magneto allies himself with the X-Men and they successfully eliminate the Sentinels, during which he saves Xavier's life.
He appears in nearly every episode in the second season, in which he and Professor Xavier have been depowered and travel throughout the Savage Land. At the end of that season, all of the X-Men save them from Mr. Sinister, and they regain their powers.