Hot on the heels of the announcement that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart (alongside Hugh Jackman ) will be appearing in X-Men: First Class follow-up Days Of Future Past , McKellen has spoken out about returning to the franchise.
“What a gas!” the actor enthuses while in conversation with The Huffington Post . “I mean, Patrick Stewart and I have been have just been playing Waiting For Godot throughout England and in the West End of London. So, we've stayed in touch.
“We can't believe it [ laughs ]. I thought these were [ Michael ] Fassbender and [ James ] McAvoy’s parts, but - no, no - we're back. We’ll give them a run for their money. I mean, I haven't read the script, so I don't know how much we've got to do.
“But, to be back in that world, and for Bryan [ Singer ] to be doing it - with all the success he's had in the meantime - it's wonderful. Wonderful."
As for Fassbender’s take on Magneto in X-Men: First Class , McKellen has nothing but praise: “I thought he was exactly that: first class. Excellent...
“I thought he was better than me. But, we weren't quite playing the same character because he was so much younger than me.”
McKellen will next be seen on the big screen returning to another of his most famous roles, playing wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , which opens on 13 December.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past opens in cinemas in the UK on 18 July 2014.
