Ian McKellen Hints at Massive Magneto Destruction in Avengers: Doomsday

Sir Ian McKellen will be back on the big screen in one of his most popular roles this December, as he’s set to reprise X-Men baddie Magneto once more in Avengers: Doomsday, but there’s been a veil of secrecy over the production to date, with even a teaser trailer released by Marvel and featuring McKellen as the iconic character described as a clue by the film’s directors.

Now, we may have a better idea of what Magneto will be up to when the film finally arrives, and apparently, sitting around playing chess with Patrick Stewart’s Professor X might be on the quieter side of things.

In a conversation with Jake Hamilton for Jake’s Takes, McKellen first discussed making the original X-Men movie in 2000 and recalled how many of the effects were practical compared to those in today’s movies.

“In the first film, I remember the camera behind me, my hands raised up, and as they did that, two motorcars, police cars in front of me, were raised up by cranes, and when [a signal] dropped my hands, the cars dropped,” he explained. “These were not special effects.”

It was then that McKellen added, “Nowadays, I think things will become a little bit easier. Though I did destroy New Jersey the other day. Oh, I perhaps shouldn’t have said that.”

Perhaps he shouldn’t, but the idea of Magneto taking out New Jersey in Avengers: Doomsday seems too delicious not to share. We don’t know what series of events would set that level of destruction in motion, and we also can’t confirm the safety of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves at this time. They may not have made it out alive. The Quick Stop is still open, though.

In the same interview, McKellen also discussed early X-Men conversations he had with late Marvel maestro Stan Lee, who had explained to him that the mutants were Marvel’s favorite property and appealed to readers who felt like outcasts from society.

“The demographic is young blacks, young Jews, and young gays. What an audience!” he said, agreeing that it was an audience who had to fight for civil rights. “The story becomes: how do you fight for civil rights? Do you do it Malcolm X’s way, like Magneto? Do you fight literally? Or do you try and assimilate and guide society to come round to your point of view, which is Professor X’s view – Martin Luther King’s view, perhaps.”

Following this, McKellen was asked if there was anything he learned about Magneto working on Avengers: Doomsday that hadn’t occurred to him before. “I didn’t realize how popular he was. I thought [Magneto] was the villain. But no, I think people rather like his attitude.”

Make of that what you will!