British actor Ben Hardy, who was once considered for the role of Young Cyclops, has joined X-Men: Apocalypse after all.

Updated April 10, 2015: Director Bryan Singer has confirmed to Empire that Ben Hardy will be playing Angel, the winged mutant who was part of the original X-Men team.

“Ben Hardy is Angel – I shall confirm it for you,” Singer revealed to the magazine. “But he’s not a very nice Angel! And that’s all I’ll say.”

Exclusive concept art which you can see on Empire’s website reveals that Angel’s wings are made out of knives, giving him a much darker look than he ever had before.

Original story:

24-year-old EastEnders actor Ben Hardy is the most recent cast member announced for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse.

So reports The Wrap, which describes his role as “key,” and “significant to the X-Men universe.”

Hardy’s name has been mentioned in reference to Apocalypse before, as he was one of the actors up for the part of Young Cyclops. That role went to Tye Sheridan.

We don’t yet know what role Hardy will be playing though there’s been speculation that he’s the new Angel.

Other newcomers to the X-Men world include Sophie Turner as Young Jean Grey and Alexandra Shipp as Young Storm.

Kodi Smit-McPhee will play Nightcrawler, with Oscar Isaac playing the titular villain Apocalypse.

Related: Rumor: Ian McKellen to return as Magneto in X-Men: Apocalypse

Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Professor X) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast) will all reprise their roles.

Hardy is known to British audiences as Peter Beale on the long-running soap EastEnders. He has played the role for the past two years, with a total of six different actors portraying the character over the years.

X-Men: Apocalypse hits cinemas on May 27, 2016.