Did Ian McKellen Just Give Away a Big “Avengers: Doomsday” Spoiler? 'I Perhaps Shouldn't Have Said That'
- - Did Ian McKellen Just Give Away a Big “Avengers: Doomsday” Spoiler? 'I Perhaps Shouldn't Have Said That'
Tommy McArdleFebruary 3, 2026 at 12:58 AM
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Sir Ian McKellen on Dec. 18, 2025; Ian McKellen in Avengers: Doomsday
Dave Benett/Getty; Marvel Entertainment
Sir Ian McKellen may have accidentally shared a plot point from Avengers: Doomsday in a recent interview
McKellen is reprising his role as X-Men antagonist Magneto in the next Avengers film alongside X-Men costars Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer and Rebecca Romijn
Avengers: Doomsday is in theaters Dec. 18
Sir Ian McKellen may have accidentally spilled the beans on a plot point from Avengers: Doomsday.
McKellen, 86, seemingly made reference to a story beat from the highly anticipated fifth Avengers entry while he spoke with entertainment journalist Jake Hamilton in an interview published on Hamilton's YouTube page Saturday, Jan. 31.
"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," McKellen said, while he and Hamilton discussed his memories playing X-Men character Magneto in the X-Men franchise. "And when I signaled by dropped my hands, the cars dropped. These were not special effects."
"Nowadays, I think these will become a little bit easier — though I did destroy New Jersey the other day," he said. "Oooh, I perhaps shouldn't have said that," McKellen added, immediately afterward.
Ian McKellen in Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel Entertainment
McKellen has portrayed the X-Men's primary antagonist Magneto across six films, dating back to 2000's original X-Men big screen adaptation. He will reprise the role for the first time since 2014 in Avengers: Doomsday. In January, the movie released a brief teaser trailer showcasing appearances by McKellen and longtime costar Patrick Stewart, who portrays Professor X, as well as James Marsden's Cyclops.
Little is known about Doomsday's storyline save for Robert Downey Jr.'s starring role as antagonist Victor Von Doom / Doctor Doom in his return to the MCU, seven years after Avengers: Endgame ended his decade-long run as Iron Man. In December and January, Marvel released three other teasers and confirmed the surprise return of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, as well as Chris Hemsworth's return as Thor and a curious meeting between Black Panther costars Letitia Wright's Shuri, Winston Duke's King M'baku and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Fantastic Four character Ben Richards / The Thing.
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Sir Ian McKellen on Oct. 17, 2025
Aimee Rose McGhee/Dave Benett/Getty
Both Doomsday and its already-scheduled 2027 follow-up Avengers: Secret Wars also expect to include the casts of the MCU's Thunderbolts. The returning Doomsday cast also includes Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston and Simu Liu, as well as Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and Kelsey Grammer, who costarred with Stewart, McKellen and Marsden in the X-Men movies.
While McKellen spoke with Hamilton, he noted that he "didn't realize how popular [Magneto] was" among Marvel Comics characters when asked about anything new he learned about the role while filming Doomsday. "I thought he was the villain, but no, I think people rather like his attitude," he said. "It was fun working with all those younger actors who were so confident about the parts they played in many, many, many other movies. Patrick [Stewart] and I came in as old-timers, but they were very respectful and allowed us to have comfortable seats and so on."
Avengers: Doomsday is in theaters Dec. 18.
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