Ian McKellen might have slipped a spoiler for Avengers: Doomsday, and it sounds pretty awe-inspiring. Ian McKellen, at 86 years old, is the oldest actor to reprise his role in a Marvel film, 26 years after the first X-Men and 12 years since fans last saw him in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Across the X-Men film franchise, Magneto has lifted massive objects from the Golden Gate Bridge to a baseball field, but for Avengers: Doomsday, it appears the Russo brothers are looking to up the ante.
Speaking with Jake’s Takes, Ian McKellen discussed what it was like to film Avengers: Doomsday. “It was fun working with all those younger actors who were so confident about the parts they played in many other movies. Patrick and I came in as old-timers, but they were very respectful and allowed us to have comfortable seats,” said the Shakespearean actor. In the interview, McKellen spoiled what might be a key action scene in the movie, saying:
“I did destroy New Jersey the other day. Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Why is Magneto Destroying New Jersey?
Ian McKellen as Magneto in X-Men the Last Stand20th Century Pictures
McKellen is far from the first actor to let a detail about an Avengers: Doomsday set piece be revealed in an interview. Alan Cumming has already mentioned how his Nightcrawler character will have a fight scene with Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic. Kelsey Grammer also hinted that his Beast will share a scene with Pascal’s Reed Richards. The X-Men-centric trailer for Avengers: Doomsday might provide more insight into how Ian McKellen’s Magneto will destroy New Jersey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The X-Men trailer shows Cyclops unleashing a large optic blast in the ruins of the Xavier Institute as he is surrounded by Sentinels. Rumors have circulated that Doctor Doom is controlling the Sentinels, which Magneto might try to fight back against by using the city of New Jersey as his battleground. Magneto might be introduced in New Jersey, destroy the city, but be powerless to stop Doctor Doom, and turn to his old friend Professor X for help in Upstate New York, leading to the Sentinel attack glimpsed in the trailer. Of the many potential showdowns in Avengers: Doomsday, fans are hoping to see a fight between Magneto and Doctor Doom, arguably Marvel Comics’ two most famous villains.
The New Jersey reference also might hold a bit more significance. In the MCU 616 Sacred Timeline, New Jersey is not only the home city of Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, who is one of the MCU’s first identified mutants, but also the location of Westview, the setting of WandaVision. There is a chance Magneto could arrive in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline and go to New Jersey to seek out Wanda Maximoff / The Scarlet Witch, who was Magneto’s daughter in the comics until December 2014, shortly before the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. If Magneto arrives in the MCU timeline looking for his daughter’s variant, he could destroy Westview and create conflict with the MCU heroes who try to stop him. Fans might not just see the Avengers fight Doctor Doom, but also go toe-to-toe with Magneto.