James McAvoy has stated that he has no plans to channel Patrick Stewart’s iconic turn as Professor Charles Xavier when he stars as the character in X-Men: First Class, the star has told MTV.

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“I’m basically going to try and bury Patrick’s performance,” McAvoy joked, explaining that the sequel takes place far enough in advance of the first X-Men film that he doesn’t feel the need to mimic Stewart’s take.

McAvoy does offer up some hope for a more established continuity should First Class develop into sequels, claiming that the journey of the character would ideally develop over time and may even see a change by the end of X-Men: First Class.

Patrick Stewart previously played the character in three X-Men films and in the spinoff, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Clark Kent asks: Can James add on to the legacy of Professor X? Or will his performance pale in comparison to Patrick Stewart’s take? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

The New Year’s Honours list should be hitting at any moment, but just like New Zealand welcomes the next year in earlier than most of us, so their gong announcements are also advanced – and Peter Jackson is getting a knighthood.

Clark Kent says: Professor Xavier became a knight, too, so when ‘X-Men: First Class‘ drops I expect to see a sword fight (pause for those who care…). More news about Sir Pete after the jump.

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He blagged the award for “services to film,” not to mention the massive boost to the country’s tourism that Lord Of The Rings has provided in the years since the trilogy’s release. Oh, and the huge filmmaking apparatus he’s built there.

Thanks to the island nation’s status as a member of the Commonwealth, his honour will be fully recognised by the Queen. No idea when or even if he’ll be stopping by the palace to pick up his honour – will he have time between producing The Hobbit and working on the thousand other projects he has developing?

Clark Kent says: Do they still do the dubbing of knighthood with the sword?

Empire had the good fortune recently to catch up with one of the Sir Ian McKellen, at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Naturally, Empire decided to pump him vigorously for the latest on his involvement with those twin towers of movie geekdom: The Hobbit and the X-Men franchise.

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First up: The Hobbit. It’s been known for some while now that Sir Ian would be reprising his role as Gandalf (the Grey variety this time) for Guillermo del Toro’s Lord of the Rings prequel. But he had a few additional tidbits to spill this time around.

“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon,” he revealed. “Then they’ll be budgeted, and then they’ll be cast. And they’ll be going when they’ve always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, ‘We’re going to film for 383 days.’ He’s got that artistic autism! Jackson’s the same; they’re very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they’ve so much in common. They both can’t stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they’re both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo’s one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”

There’s been fervent speculation about the possible return of other Rings cast members, with the likes of Legolas and Aragorn in the frame for cameos, but Sir Ian isn’t convinced.

“Unforunately, there won’t be many of the actors going back,” he said, “unless they’re going to put masks on and be disguised as dwarves! Andy Serkis is, at the moment, I think, the only other actor who’s doing this film.”

Of course, we fully expect Hugo Weaving to pop up as Elrond, but that announcement will doubtless come in due course.

In the meantime, we couldn’t let Sir Ian – who was at San Sebastian to pick up a lifetime achievement award – go without mentioning X-Men Origins: Magneto, which is still in a state of flux. Rumor has it that the script would call for a McKellen appearance to bookend the prequel action, but the actor says he’s heard nowt.

“There’s meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I’ve not read it, so I suspect it wouldn’t involve me,” he said. “I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can’t have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!”

Empire reminded him about the sudden appearance of a mysteriously de-aged Patrick Stewart in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, prompting a hearty guffaw.

“Ooh, he was very pleased with himself that he was going in to be in Wolverine,” cackled Sir Ian. “It was only an hour’s work! We were working on ‘Waiting For Godot’ at the time!”

Clark Kent says: An origin story for Magneto would be cool. But if Bryan Singer is coming back into the fold - will he be able to tie the past into Xavier and company’s future?

Konami has confirmed that the Belmont family – the heroes of the long-running series – will play a part in its upcoming title, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow marks a new beginning for the Castlevania series, with Madrid-based developer Mercury Steam working closely with Konami’s Kojima Productions studio.

In a newly released trailer, shown during Konami’s gamescom press conference, the game’s as yet unnamed protagonist, voiced by Jason Isaacs, is heard to proclaim he will “wipe the name of Belmont from this world… forever”. A mysterious new Mask also adds further mystery to the title.

The game is set in a ravaged Europe of the middle ages. The planet has been devastated by a powerful magic. The souls of the dead are trapped on our earthly plane unable to find peace, and inhuman creatures of nightmare now roam the Earth. Having witnessed his wife Marie (voiced by Natascha McKelhone) murdered at their hands, Gabriel (Robert Carlyle) pledges revenge against those responsible: the mysterious Lords of Shadow.

Gabriel learns from an ally called Zobek (Patrick Stewart) that each of the Lords possesses pieces of a relic called ’The God Mask’ that, when assembled, can purify the world and has the power to bring the dead back. Gabriel will now stop at nothing to gain possession of the mask and use it to bring back his beloved.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is scheduled for release in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3.