'X-Men: Apocalypse' Won't Have Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart

Here’s what we know about ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’: Bryan Singer’s follow-up to ‘Days of Future Past’ will focus more on the ‘First Class’ cast facing off with Oscar Isaac’s titular comic book villain Apocalypse (perhaps the most formidable villain in X-Men history), and Singer is looking to cast younger versions of Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey. Given that the film focuses more on the younger versions of the characters, it’s not entirely shocking to learn that two of the most beloved, older cast members won’t be returning.

In an interview with Larry King (via Yahoo! Movies), Patrick Stewart confirmed that he and his co-star/amazing BFF Ian McKellen will not be reprising their roles as Charles Xavier and Magneto, though he does seem to indicate that they’ll both still be closely tied to the franchise:

I was learning quite a lot more about it last night. It is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters. And so I don’t think we’ll be making an appearance.

With Jean Grey’s incredibly powerful psychic abilities, it still seems possible that we could get a small appearance from Stewart and/or McKellen, if young Grey were to try and communicate with either of their future selves. We do know that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is likely to return, but given his very, very slow aging process, that makes sense. Will ‘Apocalypse’ feature the arrival of Wolverine to Xavier’s academy, as previously seen in the first ‘X-Men’ film? Now that ‘Days of Future Past’ has kind of rebooted the story, that also seems like it might be possible, with him arriving when Jean Grey and Cyclops are younger.

It’s unclear if Bryan Singer will stick around for another installment in the franchise, or if Stewart and McKellen will reprise their roles once again in a future film or spinoff, but I definitely hope we haven’t seen the last of older Xavier and Magneto.

‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ hits theaters on May 27, 2016.