McKellen: X-MEN is about something. SUPERMAN is a joke.

“Well, he persuaded me,” said Ian McKellen to Uproxx Movies about director Bryan Singer first approaching him to play Magneto in a superhero movie with a personal message. “X-Men was about something. Superman isn’t really about anything. It’s a joke. The nerd changes his underpants and becomes a Superman. That’s James Bond: “Shaken, not stirred,” silly, stupid, British twit… and then, Action Man! But X-Men is about the problems of being a mutant. And we’ve all felt we’re mutants on occasion. So, that was the hook for me. And don’t forget, I didn’t have to sign to do anymore than one [at the time]; I’m just doing a movie.”