10 Actors Who Were Wasted In Their Franchise Return

Sir Ian McKellen is no stranger to returning to some of the most famous roles in his back catalogue.

After dusting off the pointy grey hat to play the mightiest of all wizards in The Hobbit series, nearly a decade removed from his last appearance as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, he decided the time was right to revisit another role which had helped cement him as one of the finest actors of his generation.

Erik Lehnsherr, or Magneto as he's more widely known.

As soon as McKellen was seen strutting out of the X-Jet at the beginning of Days of Future Past (2014), cinemas around the world braced themselves for another powerhouse performance from the Shakespearean legend.

Yet, the future version of Magneto was largely left to watch from the sidelines as Michael Fassbender's admittedly excellent younger iteration drove the film forward. The past versions of Mganeto and Professor Charles Xavier were always going to be the centre of attention in this time-travelling flick, but Sir Patrick Stewart was at least given the outstanding talking to his younger self (James McAvoy) scene to shine in.

McKellen wasn't given much of anything to do in his first X-Men appearance since 2006, except from fight off a few Sentinels.