Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen Step into Their Mutant Roles Again

It was no surprise to anyone when Bryan Singer tweeted that James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult would be reprising their roles in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, but the real surprise came from when Singer announced that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen would be reprising their roles as the older Professor X and Magneto, respectively. Those two actors were the highlight of the original series, so this is news that fans should be happy to hear.

People not familiar with the comics might be a little confused as to how this is possible, but Days of Future Past is a story that takes place in two different time periods: The present (or whatever the present will be for the X-Men) an alternate, dark future where mutants are outlawed and hunted down by giant robots called sentinels.  No doubt Stewart and McKellen will play themselves in the latter timeline.