The chair on the set of X-Men: First Class says "Sir Ian", but it actually belongs to Michael Fassbender. And rightly so, for, in the first three X-Men movies, Sir Ian – McKellen, that is – brought the role of Magneto, perennial thorn in the side of the X-Men, to witty, sinister life. Now that role, like the chair, belongs to Michael, and he couldn't be more excited by the prospect of following in McKellen's footsteps. "Who?" asks Michael, expression convincingly blank. Then his face creases with reassuring laugh-lines. "Oh, that fantastic actor!"

Michael's Magneto, aka Erik Lehnsherr, is an embittered concentration camp survivor thirsting for revenge, but there the shared DNA with McKellen's elder statesman ends. "There's a flavor of him, but I'm taking it from a fresh standpoint," says Michael. "I thought I'd come from scratch and use the information that's available in the comic books and take it from there."

Not that Michael is much of a comic-book reader. "I never read them at all," he says. "Even when I was a youth. I read the odd Dandy and Beano*, but this was new to me. I did read Watchmen – my sister reads everything and gave me that. But I never really got into it, to be honest." He leans forward, conspiratorially. "I really can't read."

He's clearly thought long and hard about Magneto. "I believe he's very Machiavellian. He does believe the end justifies the means – and to be fair to him, human beings don't really stand up as a fantastic species that should be nurtured. "But he's equally quick to embrace the more outlandish aspects of the role. When Empire mentions the turtleneck he's wearing that puts us so in mind of vintage Bond. He smiles. "Think James is the one that wanted turtleneck for his character, and I ended up stealing them. That's where the rift between them starts. But it's cool to wear nice clothes. I think '60s suits in particular suit me best, because I'm a skinny bastard!"

Erik's wardrobe throughout X-Men: First Class isn't all plucked from a Savile Row store. At some point, he'll don the cape and helmet and become Magneto proper. "I've just worn the helmet at home, alone," he laughs. "But I've been sitting in my trailer trying to bend a spoon for the last two month. I'm almost getting there. I have to speak to Uri Geller, but he doesn't return any of my calls!"

*"The Dandy" and "The Beano" are the long running children's comics published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issues were printed in 1937/1938.
Their iconic characters such as Dennis the Menace, Korky the Cat, Roger the Dodger, Desperate Dan, Bananaman, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Calamity James, Ivy the Terrible, Billy Whizz and lots more have become known to generations of British children.