AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Star Ian McKellen Accidentally Reveals Major Magneto Plot Details
Marvel fans already had plenty of reasons to be hyped for Avengers: Doomsday, but Ian McKellen has just added a whole new layer of chaos to the conversation. The legendary X-Men actor is officially back as Magneto, and during a recent interview, he casually dropped what sounds like a massive spoiler involving widespread destruction and a certain U.S. state.
When Marvel Studios unveiled the cast for Avengers: Doomsday, the announcement that Patrick Stewart and McKellen would return as Professor X and Magneto hit like a thunderbolt.
In a conversation with Jake’s Takes, McKellen opened up about stepping into the MCU for the first time and seemed genuinely surprised by how beloved Magneto still is.
“I didn't realise how popular he was. I thought he was the villain, but no, I think people rather like his attitude. It was fun working with all those younger actors who were so confident about the parts they played in many other movies.”
He also talked about reuniting with Stewart and how the two were treated on set.
“Patrick and I came in as old-timers, but they were very respectful and allowed us to have comfortable seats and so on.”
That all sounds wholesome enough until McKellen started reminiscing about some of Magneto’s greatest hits. While walking through past scenes involving the Golden Gate Bridge and practical effects from the early X-Men films, he veered straight into spoiler territory:
“A favorite time was when I detached the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco from its moorings and was sailing it through the air towards Alcatraz. That was magical because they’d built the bridge in the open air, and I was on it, and the wind machine was blowing, and I was just doing that.
“Over the loudspeaker, the director—not Bryan this time—was saying 'more, Ian, more,' and eventually had to shout 'less and less,' but it was all basically that. And in the first film, I remember the camera behind me, my hands raised up, and as they did that, two police cars in front of me were raised up by cranes.
“When I, at a signal, dropped my hands, the cars dropped. These were not special effects. 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.”
Yeah. That part.
If Magneto really does wipe out New Jersey in Avengers: Doomsday, it lines up with theories about an Incursion between Earth-616 and the Fox X-Men universe, often labeled Earth-10005.
It also explains why recent reports claim Magneto is the film’s MVP. When universes collide, you probably want the Master of Magnetism on screen doing something absolutely unhinged.
McKellen stayed quiet on whether Magneto shares any scenes with Robert Downey Jr., who is set to play Doctor Doom, but the idea of those two icons sharing the screen feels almost inevitable.
The movie is directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, working from a script by Stephen McFeely, with additional writing support from Michael Waldron. The same team will return for Avengers: Secret Wars, setting up what looks like Marvel’s biggest one-two punch yet.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027.