3. Sir Ian McKellen: Magneto in X-Men (2000)
Chaaaaarles. First names. Theres something about casually tossing a first name into a fantasy film that lends it a kitchen-sink normality. If Magneto had constantly been calling his old friend Professor X then X-Men would have got off to a horribly naff start and fallen painfully on a spandex-clad bottom. So thank goodness Bryan Singer was such a genius and made X-Men as real as possible, casting the magnificent McKellen as Magneto/Erik Lensherr. I first saw Ian McKellen in a BBC adaptation of Shakespeares Othello. He played Iago and he was mesmerizing. It was a three-hour long production and ordinarily that would have finished me off, but Sir Magneto was so compelling that I watched the whole thing. Twice. When Magneto calls the Prof. Charles and old friend, it all seems as normal as Coronation Street (of which of course Sir Ian is a big fan, and guest-starred in). Magneto looks and sounds like a normal bloke. He even wears the kind of sweater that your dad might own. In X-Men, Sir Ian really sells the pain that young Erik Lensherr must have gone through, which makes his mission so plausible. He makes Magneto funny, too. In X-2, despite being banged up in the plastic prison, when a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of prison guard Laurio, he instantly detects the presence of metal inside the officers body, and guesses its all thanks to Mystique. Theres such delight in the delivery of his quip: Mr Laurio, never trust a beautiful woman. Especially one whos interested in you.