Kenneth Glad
The actor shared a pointed filming anecdote during a public appearance. It connected a major screen comeback with a familiar political grievance.
Sir Ian McKellen has said he drew on his dislike of U.S. President Donald Trump while filming a destructive Magneto sequence for Avengers: Doomsday.
At Rome’s Cinema in Piazza event, McKellen told an audience of about 2,000 that directors Anthony and Joe Russo wanted him to show more anger during the scene, The Independent reported.
The anger had a name
“They got me at one point to destroy New Jersey,” McKellen said.
The actor said the Russos urged him to intensify the moment: “They told me to look more furious: Make it look as if you hate what you’re destroying. So I stood there and I shouted: ‘Mar-a-Lago!’”
Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate in Palm Beach, has been in his possession since 1985, according to PinkNews.
The joke stood out because McKellen has criticized Trump for years, especially on LGBTQ+ rights and public communication.
In 2017, he described Trump administration moves affecting LGBTQ+ protections as “appalling and quite unnecessary and very un-American,” The Daily Beast reported.
“The gay rights movement began in America. It began in San Francisco, it began in Stonewall, the city where Donald Trump was born and thrived,” he said at the time.
Marvel is bringing him back
McKellen first appeared as Magneto in 2000’s X-Men, becoming one of the defining faces of the franchise’s early film era.
Avengers: Doomsday is expected to bring together characters from the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four worlds. The Independent writes that the film is scheduled for release on December 18, 2026.
Robert Downey Jr. is also returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after previously playing Iron Man.
McKellen is also set to return as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis.
The Rome anecdote drew attention because it joined several parts of McKellen’s public identity: Shakespearean authority, franchise stardom, political candor and decades of LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Sources: The Independent, The Daily Beast, PinkNews
