Former EastEnders actor Ben Hardy has reportedly been cast as Angel in next year's X-Men Apocalypse.
Hardy, 24, who made his final appearance on the BBC soap in February having played Peter Beale since 2013, has persistently been linked to Bryan Singer's next X-Men film, and was at one point rumoured to be in the running to play Cyclops.
However, US film journalist Jeff Sneider from the usually highly reliable TheWrap reports that Singer has actually cast Hardy as winged mutant Angel, who previously appeared on screen in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand played by Ben Foster. Singer recently shared production art featuring the character on Instagram.
Some production art. #XMEN #XmenApocalypse
Singer is due to start shooting X-Men: Apocalypse later this month (April) in Toronto and the film is set for release on May 27, 2016. In February he announced that Kodi Smit-McPhee has been cast as young Nightcrawler and in January he unveiled three other new cast members for X-Men: Apocalypse. Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner – Sansa Stark in the HBO fantasy series – will play Jean Grey; Tye Sheridan will portray Cyclops and Alexandra Shipp, who starred as Aaliyah in a recent US TV biopic, has been cast as Storm. Meanwhile, unknown actress Lana Condor has been cast as Jubilation Lee aka Jubilee.
They join returning cast members Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and Evan Peters, as well as Oscar Isaac, who has been cast as Apocalypse, the villain that gives the film its title. Rose Byrne is also confirmed to be reprising her role as CIA agent Moira MacTaggert from 2011's X-Men: First Class and Hugh Jackman has recently hinted that he will be returning as Wolverine.
Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart has confirmed that he will not be appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse, but also said that his fellow original X-Men star Ian McKellen "certainly" will have a role.