Sir Ian McKellen has revealed the surprising inspiration he used while filming the new Avengers movie: President Donald Trump.

The 87-year-old stage and screen legend is reprising his famous role as Magneto in Avengers: Doomsday, the upcoming Marvel crossover film that is already shaping up to be one of the biggest superhero releases in years.

McKellen, whose career has stretched from Shakespeare to The Lord of the Rings and X-Men, will appear alongside Robert Downey Jr., Pedro Pascal, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd and Florence Pugh in the highly anticipated movie.

During an appearance at an open-air cinema event in Rome on Sunday, McKellen gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the film while also taking a swipe at Trump.

The actor told the crowd at the Cinema in Piazza festival that directors Anthony and Joe Russo had him shoot a scene where Magneto unleashes his powers and causes massive destruction.

“They got me at one point to destroy New Jersey,” McKellen said, according to The Guardian.

He then stood up to act out the moment for the crowd, explaining that the directors wanted him to look even angrier on camera.

“They told me to look more furious,” McKellen said. “Make it look as if you hate what you’re destroying.”

That is when he found his motivation.

“So I stood there and I shouted, ‘Mar-a-Lago!’” he said.

The joke drew attention because McKellen has long been an outspoken critic of Trump.

In 2024, before Trump returned to the White House, McKellen called him “an absolute bewilderment” and criticized his speaking style.

“I haven’t seen him live,” McKellen said at the time, “but he’s one of the worst public speakers there has ever been. Whether he’s reading a script or not, it’s so patent what he is.”

McKellen has also previously criticized Trump over LGBTQ rights, calling efforts to roll back protections “quite unnecessary and very un-American.”

“I can’t follow Mr. Trump,” McKellen said in 2017. “He’s a very bad communicator, at least to me. Get more straightforward, Donald. And then we can take you seriously.”

McKellen first played Magneto in 2000’s X-Men and has remained one of the most beloved actors ever to take on a Marvel role.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release on Dec. 18 and is being directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The film is expected to follow Avengers: Endgame, which earned $2.8 billion worldwide after its 2019 release.

McKellen is also set to return as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Andy Serkis.

But for now, fans are buzzing over the idea that Magneto’s fury in the next Avengers movie may have been powered by one very unexpected target: Mar-a-Lago.