Xavier first impresses Magnus by curing a catatonic woman called Gabrielle Haller, employing his unique psychology technique—that is, using his telepathy to remove mental blocks, which Cockrum represents by sending a naked, glowing Xavier inside her head to duke it out with demon Nazis. For his part, Xavier realizes Magnus’ mutant status and the two bond over their desire to advance the condition of their people. Despite their stark disagreements, the ideas remain theoretical at that point, as neither has yet taken action to realize them. When Hydra soldiers attack the hospital and kidnap Haller, Xavier and Magnus join forces to rescue her and must confront their opposing philosophies.
Yet, even in that story, the clash between Magneto and Professor X wasn’t just about different ways of looking at the world. The two men had genuine affection for one another, a bond that went deeper than anything they shared with their respective female partners.
Nothing demonstrates this better than when one of those frequent partners, Moria MacTaggart, reveals herself to be a mutant in the complimenting series House of X and Powers of X, the 2019 launch of the ambitious (but ultimately unsatisfying) Krakoa Era of X-Men comics. Writer Jonathan Hickman retcons longtime supporting character MacTaggart from a human scientist sympathetic to mutants to a mutant herself, who has the ability to reset her life after death, being born again at the same time and to the same parents, but with her memories of past lives in tact. Thanks to those memories, Moria knows that Magneto and Xavier have failed time and again to implement their plan and she pushes them to found the sovereign nation of Krakoa as the best solution.
Given that Xavier has been romantically involved with Moria in the past, and given that she has now revealed both her status as a mutant and a deep desire to improve the lives of mutants, one might think that Xavier’s passions for her would only increase. And yet, it’s Magneto to whom Xavier turns, and the two spend the era united in a way they’ve never been before, proving that their soulmates to each other in a way that no one else can match.
Hidden, No More
At this point, we do need to allow for some rebuttals. Chris Claremont has been quite open about the limitations of Marvel editorial and the Comics Code Authority, which prevented him from directly portraying queer relationships. The most famous example is the love between Mystique and Destiny, but only the most obtuse reader would miss the longing between nearly every female character in the X-Men and most of the men.
That said, when Claremont visited the queer comic convention FlameCon in 2016, he did not admit to anything other than friendship between the two men. “My thinking was ‘God bless ambiguity,’” he told panel attendees. “Sexual orientation in that instance is irrelevant, they are best friends.”