There’s plenty to be excited about the X-Men Cinematic Universe as director Bryan Singer has shown no sign of slowing down in the production on his upcoming superhero film, “X-Men: Apocalypse“.
The director recently shared a new piece of the film’s concept art on Instagram and confirmed to Empire Online that “EastEnders” star Ben Hardy will play Angel.
Hardy was previously shortlisted to play a young Cyclops, but the role ultimately went to Tye Sheridan. It was then reported that he has joined the film for a mysterious key role.
Since the filming will begin in Montreal this month, he was rumoured to be playing Warren Worthington III aka Angel, a role previously portrayed Ben Foster in 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand”. Before the speculations ran wild, Empire Online decided to contact Singer and asked him for confirmation.
He said:
Ben Hardy is Angel – I shall confirm it for you!
However, he also said, “But he’s not a very nice Angel! And that’s all I’ll say…”
Alongside the confirmation, he also debuted a new exclusive concept art that shows Angel in 2 guises.
In the original comics, Angel’s original wings were destroyed due to the interference from the Apocalypse Strain. In exchange for a techno-organic version of his uniform, he transformed into blue-skinned Death/Archangel and served as Horseman of Death for the titular villain, Apocalypse (who will be played by Oscar Issac).
It is unclear how the entire evolution of Hardy’s character will be included in the film, but we will assume that he will join the X-Men team to fight against the villain.
Set in the 1980s, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters, and Rose Byrnewill reprise their respective roles in “X-Men: Apocalypse”. Newcomer Lana Condor joined the cast as Jubilee while Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee will play the younger versions of Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler.
The movie, which is the sequel to “X-Men: Days of Future Past“, is slated for release on 27th May 2016.
Singer will direct “X-Men: Apocalypse” based on a screenplay written by Simon Kinberg, Mike Dougherty, and Dan Harris.
(Source: Empire Online)