Ian McKellen doesn't think he's in 'Magneto'

You could hardly have asked for a better actor to take on the iconic "X-Men" villain Magneto than Ian McKellen.  Along with Patrick Stewart, he brought class, stature and skill to a trilogy that had its share of badly written scenes and inexperienced co-stars. 

McKellen's charismatic portrayal is one of the reasons 20th Century Fox has been developing a spin off "Magneto" movie for some time that. This new film, however, would focus on the characters younger days.  It was always assumed a younger actor would take over the part, but that the 70-year-old would have some sort of cameo.  Speaking to Empire this week, the Oscar nominee reveals that's not the case.

“There's meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I've not read it, so I suspect it wouldn't involve me,” McKellen told the magazine. “I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can't have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!”

Don't feel bad for McKellen though, he can take solace he'll be returning to arguably his most famous role of the wizard Gandalf in Guillermo del Toro's "The Hobbit."  That two-parter will begin its 383-day shoot sometime next spring.