Ian McKellen’s Magneto Will Wreak Havoc — Again — In Avengers: Doomsday
The world’s most ruthless mutant is officially back.
Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is among the most secretive institutions of all time — but no one seemed to give the X-Men cast the memo. The most powerful mutants in the multiverse are finally making their way to the Sacred Timeline, teaming up with Earth’s mightiest heroes in Avengers: Doomsday. And though director Anthony and Joe Russo are keen to keep the details of the film under wraps, some members of their cast have let a few things slip. Alan Cumming, who returns as Nightcrawler, teased that he might just be dueling with Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards in Doomsday. And his co-star Ian McKellen just revealed another potential spoiler about his character, Magneto, in an interview on Jake’s Takes.
McKellen is no stranger to returning to a beloved role, but he’s also outspoken about the differences between the old ways and the new. The actor compared his work on Doomsday to the stunts and special effects — most often practical — used on the old X-Men sets: when filming X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, “two police cars in front of me were raised up by cranes.” 20 years later, production is much more reliant on visual effects. “Nowadays I think things will become a little bit easier — though I did destroy New Jersey the other day.”
McKellen is making a major comeback as Magneto.
McKellen quickly realized that he might have spoiled a key event in Doomsday, but the cat’s out of the bag now. For what it’s worth, this level of destruction is textbook Magneto: it’d be more shocking if he’d committed to a non-violent path in the upcoming film. Magneto is always destroying something; the bigger the target, the better — though it’s been a while since we’ve seen McKellen’s version of the character dole out much damage. When Michael Fassbender took over as a younger version of Magneto in X-Men: First Class, fans started to associate the villain’s more recent feats (like, say, the destruction of Auschwitz) with him.
It’s been over 10 years since McKellen last appeared as Magneto, in 2014’s Days of Future Past, but his last substantial role in the franchise was really The Last Stand. That means that it’s been over 20 years since McKellen’s true peak as Magneto. As the actor was in his mid-60s when he filmed The Last Stand, that makes a lot of sense, and the X-Men franchise went a clever route by passing the baton on to the next generation. Now, the pendulum is swinging back to the original X-Men and an 86-year-old McKellen — but both the actor and the character he brought to life seem to be getting their second wind.
