When the X-Men first met Magneto in 1963's X-Men #1, it was a match between a deadly enemy and an undertrained team that would launch a long and troubled relationship between the powerful mutants, though Magneto would eventually join with his former enemies.
Magneto now sits on the Quiet Council with other powerful mutants, including the woman he first faced off against all those years ago, Jean Grey. So with both members of the X-Men and the Quiet Council of Krakoa now officially confirmed as omega-level mutants, it's time to take a look at the two rivals turned allies to see which mutant is more powerful!
10 JEAN GREY: GLOBAL TELEPATHY
Unlike other powerful mutants like Professor Charles Xavier or Emma Frost who are forced to rely on the power-enhancing Cerebro device, Jean Grey has omega-level telepathy which allows her to mentally communicate with anyone across the planet.
She is even able to astrally project herself so powerfully that other people in a crowd will see her as well, instead of just the person she plans to speak with. That makes her one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet.
9 MAGNETO: GLOBAL REACH
Magneto has also flexed his mutant abilities across the entire planet a number of times before in various ways that include a huge EMP pulse that shut down electronics globally in retaliation for the UN's activation of the "Magneto Protocols."
Magneto has also used his abilities to maneuver satellites in space around the planet to use them as weapons. In the Ultimate Universe, Magneto actually managed to reverse the Earth's polarity and throw the entire planet into chaos during Ultimatum.
8 JEAN GREY: OVERPOWERED TELEKINESIS
While Jean Grey's omega-level ability is specifically her telepathy, she also has incredibly powerful telekinesis skills that allow her to move objects with her mind. She has continued to develop her skills with the ability over the years.
Prior to her death in New X-Men, Jean was experimenting with her newly unlocked potential and found she was able to control things molecularly with telekinesis, allowing her to do seemingly impossible things with her less powerful ability.
7 MAGNETO: CAN BLOCK TELEPATHY
Of course, after years working with and fighting against the equally powerful Professor X, Magneto managed to develop a surefire way to give himself the advantage when dealing with a telepath of Jean Grey and Professor Xavier's capabilities.
Magneto's helmet isn't just a design feature to make the former villain look imposing. It is actually able to shield his mind from telepathic probes and attacks, helping to level the playing field against mutant psionics.
6 JEAN GREY: LEADER OF THE X-MEN
Power isn't always measured by a mutant's powers, but instead by their ability to lead their fellow mutants into battle or for a cause like peaceful human and mutant co-existence. That is something the X-Men have been fighting for since the beginning.
Jean Grey has led the X-Men on a few different occasions, though most recently as the leader of the X-Men Red team after her latest return from death. Jean continues to display this kind of power as one of the mutants on the ruling Quiet Council.
5 MAGNETO: LEADER OF GENOSHA
However, while Jean eventually moved into a leadership role with the X-Men, Magneto has always been seen as a leader of not just his own groups like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or the Acolytes, but all of mutantkind.
Prior to Magneto's alliance with the X-Men, he had become the leader of the mutant island of Genosha, which had been given to him by the United Nations in an act of appeasement. Genosha may not have survived, but Magneto proved he was capable of leading an entire population of mutants long before Krakoa.
4 JEAN GREY: RESURRECTION
One of the defining characteristics of Jean Grey is her unique ability to come back from the dead, thanks to her long-standing connection with the cosmic-powered Phoenix Force.
When Jean first died prior to the Phoenix Saga, it was revealed she had actually been healing in a cocoon underwater, leading to her first miraculous resurrection. Her second came after her death at the hands of Magneto himself (retcons be damned), again thanks to the Phoenix Force, which is fated to keep bringing her back well into the future.
3 MAGNETO: REJUVENATION
Magneto's defining characteristic is his dark origin as a survivor of the Holocaust, which would make the X-Men's greatest villain and eventual powerful ally incredibly old in the present day. However, he doesn't appear that much older than the other X-Men.
Magneto's youth is due to the fact that he had previously been turned into an infant by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant, and when he was restored to adulthood by Erik the Red he was much younger than his former self, which seemingly also made him even more powerful.
2 JEAN GREY: PHOENIX FORCE
As we previously mentioned, the cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force took an interest in Jean Grey many years ago. The connection between the two has continued to elevate Jean Grey's power potential even when not possessed by the Phoenix.
Jean Grey's psionic abilities were greatly enhanced after she absorbed a sliver of the Phoenix Force following the events of Inferno, and she has continued to gain control over her increasingly powerful abilities without the Phoenix. However, it's only a matter of time until it makes its return.
1 MAGNETO: ELEMENTAL FORCE
While Jean Grey has a powerful connection to a cosmic force, Magneto's abilities grant him a powerful connection to Earth and its electromagnetic field, which allowed him to carry out some of his global threats like the EMP pulse or satellite attack.
However, this connection is so ingrained in Magneto due to his abilities that he is able to feel disturbances in the EM field of Earth, or use it to bolster his own abilities in battle when needed, making Magneto an actual elemental force of nature.