"The first time that Patrick Stewart and I appear in this film [X-Men: The Last Stand], we appear to be 25 years younger than we are. And that's been done by a technology never used in film before, which involves no makeup, no special effects whatsoever. We just go into the studio and do the scene as is, and then they morph our faces on to photographs of ourselves 25 years ago. Lo and behold, there we are."

He continued, "They can take any shaped person and they can slim you down, they can build you up, they can bring out your shoulders, change the style and color of your hair. Remove every wrinkle. They removed so many wrinkles from my face, I looked so young that [X-Men director] Brett Ratner said, 'You've got to put a few wrinkles back. It's looking ridiculous.' So it would mean that I could play myself at 25, feasibly. As long as I can keep myself lithe and sounding young."

As for the planned "Magneto" spin-off, McKellen says, "I'm not surprised [by the prequel]. Of course, that's what the comics have been doing for years," McKellen explained. "They've been having prequels and sequels and changing the plot. Going back to the past would be an obvious thing to do. To have a young Magneto story."