Marvel, Lord of the Rings Star Ian McKellen Says He Has No Plans to Retire From Acting

Legendary actor Ian McKellen is mainly known for his roles in the X-Men movies and the Lord of the Rings franchise. McKellen has yet to appear in another film for quite some time, and fans have wondered if he would return to Marvel like Patrick Stewart did in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While some rumors about the Marvel and Lord of the Rings stars return, nothing has been concrete. Some people believe McKellen may retire from acting in the next few years, and now the actor is debunking that claim. In a new interview with Variety, McKellen revealed that he will not be retiring from acting.

"Retire to do what?" Mckellen said. "I've never been out of work, but I'm aware that any minute now something could happen to me which could prevent me from ever working again. But while the knees hold up and the memory remains intact, why shouldn't I carry on? I really feel I'm quite good at this acting thing now."

Patrick Stewart on His and Ian McKellen's Marvel Future

Previously, McKellen's X-Men costar, Patrick Stewart, discussed if he's done with Marvel and playing Charles Xavier, and he revealed that he and McKellen aren't finished with their roles.

"I can't say about what Charles' future might possibly hold," Stewart said. "Actually, it went very well. He did say something like ['Hey, I would've done this!'], yes, that's true. But we're not done, Sir Ian and myself. We're... we got plans."

Ian McKellen is Rumored to Return as Magneto in Deadpool 3

Deadpool 3 is set to see the returns of franchise alumni Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Stefan Kapičić as Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Karan Soni as Dopinder, and Leslie Uggams as Blind Al. Joining the third Deadpool movie are Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and Emma Corrin (The Crown) in undisclosed roles. Garner, who previously played Elektra in Daredevil (2003), is also set to return for the first time since starring in the Electra solo film. Ben Affleck is also rumored to return as Daredevil, hinting that the film could be a sendoff for the old Fox universe of films, including 2005's Fantastic Four and the X-Men movies. Jackman also recently revealed that the events of the upcoming film takes place before Logan, suggesting that Deadpool and Wolverine are both the same characters we know and love.

"He was actually really cool about it," Jackman previously revealed about James Mangold's thoughts on him returning as Wolverine. "I did tell him it takes place before our movie, so I wasn't going to screw it up with my claws coming out of the grave. He was relieved by that." He also talked about his adversarial nature with Reynolds' character too. "They hate each other," Jackman smirked "[Logan] is annoyed by him. Frustrated by him. Wants to be a million miles away from him in this movie. He's the fast-talking, quick-witted loudmouth and my character just wants to punch him in the head."

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on Ian McKellen and his future roles as we learn them.

What do you think about Ian McKellen's comments? Would you want to see the Marvel star in more roles? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!