David Goyer to Direct Magneto

David Goyer will direct Magneto, the X-Men spinoff in development from 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios that centers on the villain played in the original trilogy by Ian McKellen, according to Variety.

After the first three X-Men films grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, Fox and Marvel hatched the spinoff program. Magneto will be the second such movie to go into production. First up is Wolverine, a David Benioff-scripted film that will star Hugh Jackman as the steel-clawed mutant; Fox and Marvel will set a director shortly on that film.

Goyer will develop a Magneto script that was written by Sheldon Turner.

In a storyline hinted at by the original X-Men films, Magneto comes to grips with his mutant ability to manipulate metal objects as he and his parents try to survive in Auschwitz. Magneto meets Professor Xavier (played as the wheelchair-bound mutant leader by Patrick Stewart) when the latter is a soldier liberating the concentration camp.

Magneto hones his powers by hunting down and killing Nazi war criminals who tortured him, and his lust for vengeance turns Xavier and Magneto into enemies. Both characters will be played by actors in their 20s.