Did Magneto almost not appear in X-Men: Days of Future Past?

Magneto is one of the most important characters in the 2014 superhero blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past. The mutant is so important, in fact, that two different actors (Michael Fassbender and Sir Ian McKellen) will portray him. But is it possible that Magneto almost did not appear in Bryan Singer's newest X-Men effort?

Singer directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United before he left the franchise to direct Superman Returns. Brett Ratner then took over for the third film in the series, X-Men: The Last Stand. This was perhaps the most divisive installment in the X-Men film series, as a significant group of fans were dissatisfied with Ratner's approach. Furthermore, the movie killed off three major characters in Cyclops (who doesn't even die on screen despite his status as an important player in the first two films), Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey. But apparently, Magneto almost met his end in the movie, as well.

ComicBookMovie.com posted storyboards from Michael Anthony Jackson that show the Dark Phoenix aka Jean Grey vaporizing Magneto just as she had done to Professor X earlier after Xavier tried to restore the mental barriers inside her mind to suppress her extreme powers. In the final version of the film, Beast (Kelsey Grammer) gets behind Magneto and injects him with the cure to remove his powers. Or so we think, as Magneto displays at the end of the film that his powers are not completely gone.

Had Magneto died in X-Men: The Last Stand, it's possible that the character would not appear in Days of Future Past. Then again, Professor X died in Ratner's movie and yet he appears in both his young (James McAvoy) and old (Patrick Stewart) incarnations.