X-Men legend Ian McKellen was rumored to make a cameo as Magneto in the recent MCU milestone Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Sadly, it was only Patrick Stewart who reprised his role as Professor X, and Magneto's future remains to be seen. Despite the disappointment, fans are still optimistic about McKellen's return as the X-Men antagonist, and it seems it will finally happen in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars.
According to a report from Giant Freakin Robot, Secret Wars will "at least" involve Ian McKellen if it thoroughly follows the Johnathan Hickman-written Secret Wars from 2015 as the source material. The report says:
"Considering that the MCU is completely comprised of multiversal storylines, it would make sense that this is the direction that is being taken. When the multiverse is destroyed, Dr. Doom then creates another world that is populated by many different variants of popular Marvel characters. We would assume that McKellen is going to be another version of Magneto, and he could be joined by the Michael Fassbender version too."
To be fair, the Multiverse plot of Phases 5 and 6 opens endless possibilities for beloved former actors to reprise their iconic roles. Phase 4 films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have already offered fans how the Multiverse and variants work, which is a subtle implication that Secret Wars may be the MCU's biggest crossover film of all time. Considering how massive Avengers: Endgame was, Marvel Studios certainly have to beat their own feat.
The decision is entirely up to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige on how he plans to develop Avengers: Secret Wars into live-action. But if we're going to analyze the current MCU roadmap, after the studio triumphantly brought back two former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, it's a no-brainer that they could do the same for Magneto.
Stay Tuned for more updates about the X-Men!
Also read: Nicolas Cage Reportedly Returning as Ghost Rider in Marvel Secret Wars
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