11 Perfect Casting Choices That Made Comic Book Movies

3. Sir Ian McKellen As Magneto

Ian McKellen portrayed the mutant Magneto in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and in a cameo in The Wolverine. He did a fantastic job as the antagonist and has been one of the reasons the movies in which he's starred - and indeed the X-Men franchise as a whole - has been such a huge success.

He gives the character a real air of authority and influence and his version of Magneto leads the Brotherhood of mutants who include the likes of Mystique, Toad, Callisto and Sabretooth over the course of the trilogy.

Michael Fassbender has gone on to portray a younger version of the character in brilliant fashion, but the original casting of McKellen as the elder version takes some beating, as he convincingly and effortlessly portrays a man who possesses sufficient power to lift the Golden Gate Bridge using his control over metal.

A strong villainous figure is key to any franchise and McKellen has thus far carried it almost single-handedly. For that, he must be praised.